cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Making it and breaking it in the Midwest: Continental assembly and rifting from modeling of EarthScope magnetotelluric data

Abstract A three-dimensional lithospheric-scale resistivity model of the North American mid-continent has been estimated based upon EarthScope magnetotelluric data. Details of the resistivity model are discussed in relation to lithospheric sutures, defined primarily from aeromagnetic and geochronologic data, which record the southward growth of the Laurentian margin in the Proterozoic. The resistivity signature of the 1.1 Ga Mid-continent Rift System is examined in detail, in particular as relates to rift geometry, extent, and segmentation. An unrecognized expanse of (concealed) Proterozoic deltaic deposits in Kansas is identified and speculated to result from axial drainage along the southwest rift arm akin to the Rio Grande delta which drains multiple rift basins. A prominent conductor traces out Cambrian rifting in Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee, and Kentucky; this linear conductor has not been imaged before and suggests that the Cambrian rift system may have been more extensive than previously thought. The highest conductivity within the mid-continent is imaged in Minnesota, Michigan, and Wisconsin where it is coincident with Paleoproterozoic metasedimentary rocks. The high conductivity is attributed to metallic sulfides, and in some cases, graphite. The former is a potential source of sulfur for multiple mineral deposits types, occurrences of which are found throughout the region. Finally, the imprint left within the mantle following the 1.1 Ga rifting event is examined. Variations in lithospheric mantle conductivity are observed and are interpreted to reflect variations in water content (depleted versus metasomatized mantle) imprinted upon the mantle by the Keweenawan mantle plume.
Effect of ubiquinol-10 on citral stability and off-flavor formation in oil-in-water (O/W) nanoemulsions.

The effects of different concentrations of ubiquinol-10 (Q10H2) on citral’s stability were systematically investigated and compared in citral-loaded oil-in-water (O/W) nanoemulsions. Solid phase microextraction gas chromatography (SPME-GC) was employed to monitor the degradation of citral and the formation of off-flavor compounds throughout storage at 25 and 45 °C. The optimum concentration of Q10H2 in the current formulation was determined to be around 0.10 wt % in the system (Q10H2/citral ratio 1:1), which can effectively protect citral from chemical degradation and oxidation. Results suggested, however, that a low concentration of Q10H2 may induce the majority of the ubisemiquinone (Q10•–)/ubiquinone (Q10) redox transition, which possibly endowed Q10H2 with pro-oxidant properties. Further increase in Q10H2 concentration beyond a certain value also hindered its effect due to the complex properties of radicals involved and the overall environment encountered. With appropriate concentrations of Q10H2 pres...
Investigating constrained quantum control through a kinematic-to-dynamic-variable transformation

A search for the variables that control a quantum system's dynamics occurs over a landscape, defined as the target objective as a function of the variables. Prior studies show that upon satisfaction of three specific assumptions, the topology of the landscape is free of suboptimal traps that could prematurely halt the search for an optimal control. One key assumption is free access to all necessary control variables; however, in practice, the controls are always limited in some fashion which may result in constraint-induced traps on the landscape. This paper aims to introduce the means to systematically explore the nature of constrained controls that yield suboptimal outcomes. The procedure utilizes kinematic controls, which comprise a simple set of time-independent variables, and then performs a landscape topology-preserving transformation into corresponding dynamic controls. The equivalent landscape topology of these two formulations permits the study of a family of dynamic controls that reflect constrained control landscape behavior. In particular, constrained dynamic controls are identified as isolated points on the landscape or as suboptimal level sets. The wide range of such dynamic controls indicates the richness and complexity of constraint-induced features on the landscape.
Risk Is What We Make of It

As the financial crisis grew and matured into 2008, markets became highly volatile, ready to jump at the slightest indication of trouble. Traders began reacting, not to the reality of a firm’s economic situation, but to rumors and skewed perceptions of it. In March of that year, Bear Sterns felt the wrath of this accumulating wave of perceptions.
Efficient Execution of Bursty Applications

The performance of user-facing applications is critical to client platforms. Many of these applications are event-driven and exhibit “bursty” behavior: the application is generally idle but generates bursts of activity in response to human interaction. We study one example of a bursty application, web-browsers, and produce two important insights: (1) Activity bursts contain false parallelism, bringing many cores out of a deep sleep to inefficiently render a single webpage, and (2) these bursts are highly compute driven, and thus scale nearly linearly with frequency. We show average performance gains/energy reductions of 14%/17% respectively on real hardware by statically moving threads from multiple cores to a single core. We then propose dynamic hardware driven thread migration and scheduling enhancements that detect these bursts, leading to further benefits.
Religious Pluralistic Language in a Computer-Mediated Context: Effects of Intergroup Salience and Religious Orientation

This study investigated the degree to which religious pluralistic language varies as a function of the intergroup salience of a context and religious orientation. Based on a 2 (Religious Salience of Context) × 3 (Religious Salience of Topic) experimental design, participants (N = 239) were instructed to compose an e-mail to an interactional partner based on the randomly assigned condition. Messages were coded for religious pluralistic language, and participants completed measures of religious orientation and evaluations of the conversational partner. Modest effects were found for both intergroup salience of the context and topic as well as religious orientation.
Combination immunotherapy utilizing influenza infection and PD-1 blockade reduces lung melanoma tumor growth (TUM2P.1011)

Emerging epidemiological studies report increased cancer occurrence in patients with chronic viral infections, even when such infections are non-oncogenic and not in the same tissue as the cancer. In our recent studies, we observed decreased anti-tumor immune responses in the context of concomitant infection. Specifically, we discovered that anti-melanoma (gp100) CD8+ T cell responses in mice challenged with melanoma are shunted from the tumor site (skin) to the site of influenza infection (lung), leading to faster tumor growth and hastened host death. We observed similar findings with multiple tumor and virus combinations, including patient-derived melanomas in humanized mice infected with HIV. Based on this infection-mediated shunting of anti-tumor CD8+ T cells to the infection site, and towards developing related therapeutic interventions, we sought to determine whether an infection in a particular tissue would improve anti-tumor responses against a tumor also in that same tissue. We discovered that influenza infection within the lungs resulted in 51% fewer tumor foci within the lungs compared to no infection. Tumor foci were further reduced with systemic PD-1 blockade (more than 70% fewer tumor foci compared to no infection or PD-1 blockade alone). Future studies will further dissect the mechanisms underlying these findings in the setting of viral infection. We ultimately aim to translate these findings to combination cancer immunotherapies utilizing viral infections.
From Misogyny to Murder: Everyday Sexism and Femicide in Cross-Cultural Context

This paper argues that a pervasive culture of misogyny in everyday power relations contributes to both the disregard and minimization of large-scale crimes against women and a public unwillingness to recognize them as misogynistic violence. I will examine two case studies: that of the 500+ femicides in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico since 1993, as well as the recent murder of three women in a Pittsburgh by George Sodini, which is but the most recent in a string of similar incidents. Though taking place in vastly different cultural contexts, these two case studies illustrate the ways in which quotidian sexist practices lay the conditions for this sort of violence and for the political discourse that surrounds it.
Schwann Cell Transplantation Subdues the Pro-Inflammatory Innate Immune Cell Response after Spinal Cord Injury.

The transplantation of Schwann cells (SCs) has been shown to provide tissue preservation and support axon growth and remyelination as well as improve functional recovery across a diverse range of experimental spinal cord injury (SCI) paradigms. The autologous use of SCs has progressed to Phase 1 SCI clinical trials in humans where their use has been shown to be both feasible and safe. The contribution of immune modulation to the protective and reparative actions of SCs within the injured spinal cord remains largely unknown. In the current investigation, the ability of SC transplants to alter the innate immune response after contusive SCI in the rat was examined. SCs were intraspinally transplanted into the lesion site at 1 week following a thoracic (T8) contusive SCI. Multicolor flow cytometry and immunohistochemical analysis of specific phenotypic markers of pro- and anti-inflammatory microglia and macrophages as well as cytokines at 1 week after SC transplantation was employed. The introduction of SCs significantly attenuated the numbers of cluster of differentiation molecule 11B (CD11b)+, cluster of differentiation molecule 68 (CD68)+, and ionized calcium-binding adapter molecule 1 (Iba1)+ immune cells within the lesion implant site, particularly those immunoreactive for the pro-inflammatory marker, inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS). Whereas numbers of anti-inflammatory CD68+ Arginase-1 (Arg1+) iNOS− cells were not altered by SC transplantation, CD68+ cells of an intermediate, Arg1+ iNOS+ phenotype were increased by the introduction of SCs into the injured spinal cord. The morphology of Iba1+ immune cells was also markedly altered in the SC implant, being elongated and in alignment with SCs and in-growing axons versus their amoeboid form after SCI alone. Examination of pro-inflammatory cytokines, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-1β (IL-1β), and anti-inflammatory cytokines, interleukin-4 (IL-4) and interleukin-10 (IL-10), by multicolor flow cytometry analysis showed that their production in CD11b+ cells was unaltered by SC transplantation at 1 week post-transplantation. The ability of SCs to subdue the pro-inflammatory iNOS+ microglia and macrophage phenotype after intraspinal transplantation may provide an important contribution to the neuroprotective effects of SCs within the sub-acute SCI setting.
Proximal Hamstring Repair: A Biomechanical Analysis of Variable Suture Anchor Constructs:

Background:Despite an abundance of literature regarding construct strength for a myriad of anchors and anchor configurations in the shoulder, there remains a paucity of biomechanical studies detail...
RotaSYN: Rotary Traveling Wave Oscillator SYNthesizer

A physical design methodology is presented to synchronize digital application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) designs by a resonant rotary clock network. One novelty of the proposed RotaSYN flow is that the ASIC products of RotaSYN can operate at previously unattainable (relatively) low-frequency ranges of hundreds of megahertz. The dynamic resonant frequency divider is used to implement the low-frequency operation; and low in comparison to the norm of gigahertz-range of operation for resonant clocking reported in this paper. In SPICE -based simulations, the efficacy of the proposed flow and novel algorithms in RotaSYN is demonstrated using performance metrics of the wirelength, skew, and power on international symposium on physical design-10 clock benchmark circuits. In addition, RotaSYN is compared to three publicly available industrial designs that include the ARM Cortex M0 against equivalent clocks generated with a traditional phase locked loop (PLL) and distributed with an industrial clock tree synthesis tool flow. The RotaSYN methodology is implemented at three different target frequencies of 880 MHz, 500 MHz, and 220 MHz for the industrial designs. SPICE simulations show an average of 29% power savings for the industrial designs overall, solely thanks to 66% power savings on the clock generation and distribution networks, operating at a frequency of 880 MHz on comparison to the PLL-based design with a clock tree synthesized with an industrial EDA tool.
Improving the Accuracy of Two-Color Multiview (2CMV) Advanced Geospatial Information (AGI) Products Using Unsupervised Feature Learning and Optical Flow

In two-color multiview (2CMV) advanced geospatial information (AGI) products, temporal changes in synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images acquired at different times are detected, colorized, and overlaid on an initial image such that new features are represented in cyan, and features that have disappeared are represented in red. Accurate detection of temporal changes in 2CMV AGI products can be challenging because of ’speckle noise’ susceptibility and false positives that result from small orientation differences between objects imaged at different times. Accordingly, 2CMV products are often dominated by colored pixels when changes are detected via simple pixel-wise cross-correlation. The state-of-the-art in SAR image processing demonstrates that generating efficient 2CMV products, while accounting for the aforementioned problem cases, has not been well addressed. We propose a methodology to address the aforementioned two problem cases. Before detecting temporal changes, speckle and smoothing filters mitigate the effects of speckle noise. To detect temporal changes, we propose using unsupervised feature learning algorithms in conjunction with optical flow algorithms that track the motion of objects across time in small regions of interest. The proposed framework for distinguishing between actual motion and misregistration can lead to more accurate and meaningful change detection and improve object extraction from an SAR AGI product.
Review: Rome Resurgent: War and Empire in the Age of Justinian, by Peter Heather

Peter Heather, Rome Resurgent: War and Empire in the Age of Justinian . Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018. xiii + 393 pp. ISBN 9780199362745. $29.95. Written with the characteristic pugilistic vim that has become the hallmark of his recent publications, Peter Heather's latest book is a political and military history of the reign of Justinian. The central aim of the book is to interrogate previous assumptions that instability caused by Justinian's storied military campaigns, and the strain that these campaigns placed on eastern imperial resources, eventually caused both the reversal of his military successes and, ultimately, the downfall of the eastern provinces in the face of Muslim conquest (pp. 7–9). Thus, the book attempts to provide a balance sheet for the successes and failures of Justinian's reign, primarily by focusing on the effectiveness and overall impact of his military policies. On the whole, Heather portrays Justinian as a political actor behaving in patterns that were well established for Roman emperors and, following a dominant theme from his previous work on the end of the western Roman Empire, he attributes the later contraction of the eastern Empire in the seventh century not to the long-term consequences of Justinian's policies, but to instabilities caused by “foreigners” (esp. pp. 3–6). Although the style and manner of citation indicate that the book was written primarily for a popular, non-academic audience, Heather's stance against a “revisionist discourse” (pp. 3–4) in academic interpretations of Justinian's reign suggests an academic audience was intended as well. Whether or not the book succeeds in its suitability for either a popular or academic audience is a subject to which this review will return in its conclusion. The book is organized into twelve chapters, including an introduction which attends to the preliminary business of framing Justinian's legacy in the wider context of modern studies of the sixth century, outlining some themes related to the exhaustion of western imperial power and explaining Heather's methodology for reading of …
Disparities in healthcare coverage among stroke survivors: Results from a nationally representative data set.

Background While recurrent strokes disproportionately affect stroke survivors due to several factors, including access to healthcare coverage, few studies have examined correlates of healthcare coverage among stroke survivors. This study sought to investigate determinants of healthcare coverage among stroke survivors. Methods Using the 2018 Behavioral Risk Factor System Surveillance (BRFSS) data set, we performed a descriptive analysis followed by logistic regression in Stata/SE 15.1. The outcome variable was healthcare coverage. Independent variables included sex, race, age, education level, and not seeing a physician due to higher cost. Results Of the 4.4% of stroke survivors, 4.5% had healthcare coverage with a majority: female (95.5%), Whites (95.7%), aged 65 years or older (97.8%), college graduate (96.7%), and those who indicated that cost did not hinder them from consulting a physician (96.6%). All the relationships between the dependent variable and the independent variables were statistically significant. Among stroke survivors, the logistic regression results indicated that females were statistically more likely to have healthcare coverage than males (OR=1.41; 95% CI=1.24-1.61). In addition, Black and Hispanic stroke survivors were statistically less likely to have healthcare coverage compared to the White counterparts (OR= 0.76; [95% CI= 0.63-0.91]; OR=0.44; [95% CI= 0.35-0.54], respectively). Stroke survivors aged 65 or older were statistically more likely to have healthcare coverage than those aged 64 or less (OR= 4.72; 95% CI= 4.07-5.48). Similarly, stroke survivors with college degree had higher odds of having healthcare coverage than those with less than kindergarten (OR= 3.58; 95% CI= 1.36-9.45). Also, stroke survivors who indicated that cost did not prevent them from consulting a physician were statistically more likely to have healthcare coverage than those who reported otherwise (OR= 4.32; 95% CI=3.76-4.96). Conclusion Despite efforts to mitigate the lack of healthcare coverage, disparities in healthcare coverage among stroke survivors persist in the United States.
Feasibility and acceptability of a brief cognitive-behavioral group intervention for chronic irritability in youth.

Chronic irritability is a core feature of oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) and disruptive mood dysregulation disorder (DMDD), but few irritability-specific interventions have been tested. Existi...
A novel switchable car-T cell therapy for tumor retargeting and improved safety

Background & Aim Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells have proven effective for treatment of B cell malignancies. However, conventional CAR T cell therapy is still hindered by such issues as relapse of refractory disease —due in part to tumor heterogeneity and antigen escape— cytokine release syndrome (CRS), on-target, off-tumor toxicity and costly manufacturing. To address all these issues, we developed a switchable immune receptor that can attach to different antigen recognition molecules (ARMs) and allow CAR T cells to switch their target antigens. Methods, Results & Conclusion Sortases are transpeptidases that can covalently bind proteins that have a short polypeptide recognition motif. We designed a sortase CAR (Srt.bbz) that consists of an extracellular sortase domain, a transmembrane domain and an intracellular signaling domain. Our preliminary tests showed that Srt.bbz T cells were capable of binding sortase-compatible probes in the picomolar range. Similarly, sortase-compatible Her2-ARMs attached to Srt.bbz T cells, and once “ARMed,” the T cells could recognize Her2 antigen and become activated. Next, we demonstrated tumor cytolysis using human primary Srt.bbz T cells that were directed to Her2+ tumor cells using Her2-ARMs and showed that the magnitude of cytolysis was dependent on the Her2-ARM dosage. To address whether immune escape by antigen loss could be overcome by Srt.bbz retargeting, we demonstrated that Srt.bbz T cells could kill Her2+EGFR+ tumor cells using either an EGFR-ARM or Her2-ARM. Next, we established that Srt.bbz T cells could provide improved safety by a combined Her2 and EGFR-ARM dosing, which increased tumor cytolysis compared to using either ARM alone. Finally, we tested Srt.bbz T cells in vivo using an intraperitoneal (IP) tumor model with an infusion of 10e6 Srt.bbz T cells and Her2-ARM injections every other day for 4 weeks. This resulted in complete tumor clearance in all mice (n = 17). In summary, we describe a novel switchable CAR T cell therapy with the potential for treating refractory disease and for improving CAR T cell safety.
Reflections on a Career Studying Individual Differences in the Workplace

I am quite gratified to be asked to provide this personal account of a career focusing on the role of individual differences in the workplace. I open with an account of my career journey and then o...
The Impact of Forward-Looking Metrics on Employee Decision-Making: The Case of Customer Lifetime Value

This paper analyzes the effects of forward-looking metrics on employee decision-making. We use data from a bank that started providing branch managers with the customer lifetime value (CLV) — an estimate of the future value of the customer relationship — of mortgage applicants. The data allows us to gauge the effects of enriching the employees’ information set in an environment where explicit incentives and decision rights remained unchanged. On average, customer value increased 5 percent after the metric’s introduction. The metric’s availability resulted in a significant shift in attention toward more profitable client segments and some improvement in cross-selling. However, the use of CLV did not negatively impact pricing or default risk, as the literature predicts. Finally, branch managers with shorter tenure displayed a stronger response, consistent with information substituting for experience.
Market States and the Risk-Return Tradeoff

We re-examine the risk-return trade off in U.S. equity market by allowing for time variation in the tradeoff and estimating the conditional variance by the new mixed data sampling method. The main finding is that the risk-return tradeoff is strongly time-varying with the state of the market and the average of the time-varying tradeoff is 1.43. The lagged market return is found to be the best indicator of market states. The empirical finding holds true for a battery of robustness checks during the post-Compustat sample period. The evidence from the international markets is similar to the U.S. one.
Earthquake simulation testing of a stepping frame with energy-absorbing devices

Results are reported of earthquake simulation tests on a model frame with a partial base isolation system that includes energy-absorbing devices. The isolation system was modeled on a stepping bridge concept developed for the New Zealand Railways, and the energy-absorbing devices, based on the plastic torsion of rectangular mild steel bars, functioned only when the frame base lifted off the foundation. Two series of tests using scaled accelerations from the El Centro N-S 1940 and Pacoima Dam 1971 earthquake ground motion records were used as input to the shaking table on which the tests were performed. Results from these tests are compared to those from earlier tests on an identical frame with the foundation (1) anchored as in conventional design, and (2) permitted to uplift freely. The response of the frame with the energy-absorbing devices installed was improved over that of both the fixed frame and the frame allowed to uplift freely for the El Centro accelerations. Although the results are not as favourable for the Pacoima Dam input, the feasibility of the energy-absorbing devices associated with a partial base isolation system is established as an alternative to anchored frames and frames allowed to uplift freely.
A Class of Trees Having Near-Best Balance

Full binary trees naturally represent commutative non-associative products. There are many important examples of these products: finite-precision floating-point addition and NAND gates, among others. Balance in such a tree is highly desirable for efficiency in calculation. The best balance is attained with a divide-and-conquer approach. However, this may not be the optimal solution, since the success of many calculations is dependent on the grouping and ordering of the calculation, for reasons ranging from the avoidance of rounding error, to calculating with varying precision, to the placement of calculation within a heterogeneous system. We introduce a new class of computational trees having near-best balance in terms of the Colless index from mathematical phylogenetics. These trees are easily constructed from the binary decomposition of the number of terms in the problem. They also permit much more flexibility than the optimally balanced divide-and-conquer trees. This gives needed freedom in the grouping and ordering of calculation, and allows intelligent efficiency trade-offs.
Synthesis of Practices and Tools for Cost Estimation and Cost Management for Transportation Projects

Cost escalation during project development is inevitable on transportation projects. The lack of a systematic process for establishing a baseline budget with the consideration of potential issues (risks) that negatively impact project cost throughout project development presents a major challenge for State Departments of Transportation (DOTs). The overarching objective of this paper is to identify best practices for cost estimation and management that can aid project managers and engineers throughout the project development process (PDP). To achieve the objective, this paper conducted a systematic literature review, comprehensive content analysis of cost estimation and cost management processes in other State DOTs, and interviews with transportation cost professionals. A systematic literature review identified four key areas for cost estimation and cost management, including: (1) risk analysis and contingency; (2) identification of cost escalation factors; (3) accuracy of preliminary cost estimate; (4) and constructability review. Cost estimation and control processes in Minnesota, California, Texas, Ohio, and Washington State DOTs are provided as examples of best practices for establishing reliable baseline cost estimates. This paper represents a current synthesis of state DOTs’ practices on cost estimation and cost management in the U.S.
What’s in an Occupation? Investigating Within-Occupation Variation and Gender Segregation Using Job Titles and Task Descriptions:

Occupations have long been central to the study of inequality and mobility. However, the occupational categories typical in most U.S. survey data conceal potentially important patterns within occup...
Abstaining College Students' Motives to Use E-Cigarettes: A Brief Report.

Objective Although college students have higher rates of e-cigarette use compared with non-college-attending young adults, e-cigarette-abstaining college students are an understudied population. The present study was designed to create a scale assessing current e-cigarette abstainers' motives to abstain from or initiate e-cigarette use. Method Participants from two universities who had never used e-cigarettes (n = 281) completed an online survey. Participants indicated their e-cigarette abstention and initiation motives, and their perceived vulnerability to, willingness to use, and intentions to use e-cigarettes. Results Analyses revealed three factors of abstention motives (avoiding health outcomes, low incentive to initiate, and concerns regarding social approval of use) and three factors of initiation motives (tobacco alternatives, social reasons, and coping with negative emotions). When demographics were controlled for, only coping motives significantly positively related to abstainers' willingness and intentions for future e-cigarette initiation. Furthermore, only the avoiding health outcomes abstention motive was positively related to participants' perceived vulnerability to the negative health effects of e-cigarettes. Conclusions This study provides initial support for a scale to assess what motives abstainers may have to initiate e-cigarette use. Results indicated that coping motives may be indicators of readiness to initiate e-cigarettes.
The Uncertainty Principle

In this chapter, we will continue our investigation of the consequences of the commutation relations among the position and momentum operators.
End-to-End Inference of Loss Nature in a Hybrid Wired/Wireless Environment

End-to-End differentiation between wireless and conges- tion loss can equip TCP control so it operates effectively in a hybrid wired/wireless environment. Our approach integrates two techniques: packet loss pairs (PLP) and Hidden Markov Modeling (HMM). A packet loss pair is formed by two back-to-back packets, where one packet is lost while the second packet is successfully received. The purpose is for the sec- ond packet to carry the state of the network path, namely the round trip time (RTT), at the time the other packet is lost. Under realistic conditions, PLP provides strong differentiation between congestion and wireless type of loss based on distinguishable RTT distributions. An HMM is then trained so observed RTTs can be mapped to model states that represent either con- gestion loss or wireless loss. Extensive simulations confirm the accuracy of our HMM-based technique in classifying the cause of a packet loss. We also show the superiority of our technique over the Vegas predictor, which was recently found to perform best and which exemplifies other existing loss labeling techniques.
Cadherin2 (N-cadherin) plays an essential role in zebrafish cardiovascular development

Cadherins are cell surface adhesion molecules that play important roles in development of vertebrate tissues and organs. We studied cadherin2 expression in developing zebrafish heart using in situ hybridization and immunocytochemical methods, and we found that cadherin2 was strongly expressed by the myocardium of the embryonic zebrafish. To gain insight into cadherin2 role in the formation and function of the heart, we analyzed cardiac differentiation and performance in a cadherin2 mutant, glass onion (glo). We found that the cadherin2 mutant had enlarged pericardial cavity, disorganized atrium and ventricle, and reduced expression of a ventricular specific marker vmhc. Individual myocardiocytes in the glo mutant embryos became round shaped and loosely aggregated. In vivo measurements of cardiac performance revealed that the mutant heart had significantly reduced heart rate, stroke volume and cardiac output compared to control embryos. Formation of the embryonic vascular system in the glo mutants was also affected. Our results suggest that cadherin2 plays an essential role in zebrafish cardiovascular development. Although the exact mechanisms remain unknown as to the formation of the enlarged pericardium and reduced peripheral blood flow, it is clear that myocardiocyte differentiation and physiological cardiovascular performance is impaired when cadherin2 function is disrupted.
Cancer chemotherapy by perfusion.

Publisher Summary This chapter focuses on cancer chemotherapy by perfusion. Perfusion has been employed in the treatment of cases that are inoperable because of local extension of the tumor, or when the patient has refused radical and deforming extirpative operations. Techniques of regional perfusion are based on the concept that various anatomic regions can be isolated from the remainder of the circulation, supplied with a separate, extraneous system for pumping and oxygenating the blood, and can be maintained for varying periods of time under abnormal conditions without significant systemic effect. By altering the character and temperature of the perfusing medium, the normal biochemical environment of a tumor may be selectively altered. The techniques of perfusion discussed in the chapter include lower extremity perfusion, upper extremity perfusion, pelvic perfusion, brain perfusion, perfusion of oropharyngeal area, and total body perfusion. The chapter also discusses the escape of agent from the perfusion circuit. A standard technique has been developed for determining the dose of a chemotherapeutic agent to be administered by perfusion. The effect upon normal tissues in a perfused region depends upon the amount of an agent used. The pathologic changes occurring in perfused malignant tissues vary widely. In addition to the problems which may follow any major surgical procedure, perfusion techniques give rise to special problems that call for close attention during the period after treatment. The most common complication of cancer chemotherapy by perfusion is depression of hematopoiesis. Morbidity from cancer chemotherapy by perfusion is greater than what would be expected to occur after similar surgical procedures without chemotherapy.
Relative Intensities of Hydrogen Recombination Lines in Gaseous Nebulae

RECENTLY, Gardner and McGee1 have published measurements on the 126α, 159β and 158β recombination lines of hydrogen in two galactic nebulae. These lines have frequencies differing by less than 2 per cent and are therefore observed with the same beamwidth. Their results are summarized in Table 1. TL is the measured peak line temperature above the continuum. (TLβ/TLα)E is the predicted ratio of temperatures assuming thermodynamic equilibrium and equal line widths.
Comparative Spectroscopic and Reactivity Studies of Sc3-xYxN@C80 (x = 0−3)

A series of endohedral fullerenes Sc3-xYxN@C80 (x = 0−3) with variable encaged moieties and the same C80 cage were synthesized, isolated, and spectroscopically characterized by the laser desorption time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LD-TOF−MS), differential pulse voltammetry (DPV), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), visible-near-infrared (vis-NIR) absorption spectrometry, and so forth. It was revealed that Sc3-xYxN@C80 (x = 0−3) have a similar electronic structure, (Sc3-xYxN)6+@(C80)6-. However, because of the relatively larger van der Waals radius of yttrium to that of scandium which induces the size increase of Sc3-xYxN from x = 0 to x = 3, the frontier orbitals of this series of endohedral fullerenes dramatically change. For example, Sc2YN@C80 shows similar electronic property with its left neighbor Sc3N@C80 but is quite different with its right neighbor ScY2N@C80. The cycloaddition reactions of N-enthylazomethine ylide with Sc3-xYxN@C80 (x = 0−3) were carried out, and the regioselectivity of endohedral...
Highly sensitive and wide-dynamic-range navigation microsystem on a single chip

AbstractThe inertial navigation system uses both gyroscopes and accelerometers tomeasure the state of motion of a target or a missile by sensing the changes in that statecaused by accelerations. The required features in many of these applications are high precision, wide dynamic range and wide frequency range. In this paper, recent advances made on MEMS-IDT based accelerometers and gyroscopes at Penn State is presented.These devices possess typical advantages of MEMS sensors including the additionalbenefits of robustness, excellent sensitivity, surface conformability and durability. Thetransmitter IDT creates SAW (Surface Acoustic Wave) that propagates back and forth between the reflectors and forms a standing wave pattern within the cavity space between the IDTs. The particles at the anti-nodes of standing wave pattern experience largeamplitude of vibration perpendicular to the plane of the substrate, which serves as the reference vibrating motion for this gyroscope. A number of metallic masses are
Human cells lacking mtDNA: repopulation with exogenous mitochondria by complementation

Two human cell lines (termed rho 0), which had been completely depleted of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) by long-term exposure to ethidium bromide, were found to be dependent on uridine and pyruvate for growth because of the absence of a functional respiratory chain. Loss of either of these two metabolic requirements was used as a selectable marker for the repopulation of rho 0 cells with exogenous mitochondria by complementation. Transformants obtained with various mitochondrial donors exhibited a respiratory phenotype that was in most cases distinct from that of the rho 0 parent or the donor, indicating that the genotypes of the mitochondrial and nuclear genomes as well as their specific interactions play a role in the respiratory competence of a cell.
Reoperative surgery for chronic pancreatitis: is it safe?

Introduction Eleven percent to fifty-six percent of patients do not achieve adequate pain relief with initial operative treatment for chronic pancreatitis, and reoperations for recurrent or persistent pain are common. This study evaluates the influence of prior pancreatic procedures on operative morbidity for chronic pancreatitis.
Chemical vapor deposition of titanium nitride at low temperatures

Abstract A new method is proposed for making titanium nitride (TiN) films at substrate temperatures between about 400 and 700°C. The films are formed from TiCl 4 and NH 3 by chemical vapor deposition. The method is versatile with growth rates of up to 0.1 μm s −1 possible. The optical properties of the films are measured and fitted theoretically using the Drude theory to obtain the plasma frequency of the films. A modification of the Drude theory according to Maxwell Garnett explains a decreased reflectance in the IR region for the thinner films. Use of the films as heat mirrors and other applications are discussed.
Surficial injuries of several long-lived columnar cacti of the sonoran desert, Mexico

Abstract The giant cactus, Carnegiea gigantea (Engelm.) Britt. & Rose, of the Sonoran Desert of North America, is experiencing an epidermal browning of stem surfaces in which sheeting of epicuticular waxes leads to scaling and barking (epidermal browning). The purpose of this study was to determine the degree that four species of long-lived columnar cacti, namely, Stenocereus thurberi (Engelm.) Britt. & Rose, Lophocereus schottii (Engelm.) Britt. & Rose, Pachycereus pringlei (S. Wats.) Britt. & Rose and C. gigantea exhibit epidermal browning at a site in Sonora, Mexico where all four species occur. Estimates of scaling and barking of crests and troughs were made on stems and branches closest to 180° azimuth. All four species showed from 27 to 75% scaling and barking on crests. However, only C. gigantea exhibited scaling and barking on more than 40% of trough areas. The degree of scaling and barking of trough surfaces was correlated positively with degree of sheeting of epicuticular waxes, and negatively with number of visible stomata. These results show that symptoms of epidermal browning are not specific to C. gigantea but are present on all four cactus species observed.
Ionization of uranium atoms by electron impact

The cross sections for single and multiple ionization of uranium by electron impact for energies 7.5 to 500 eV have been measured using a modulated crossed-beam experiment. The absolute total ionization cross section was found by comparing the cross section for ionization to the cross section for associative ionization in the reaction U + O/sub 2/ ..-->.. UO/sub 2//sup ts+/+e. The total ion number cross section has a maximum value of (5.8 +- 0.9) x 10/sup -16/ cm/sup 2/ occurring at an energy of about 50 eV. The single ionization cross section has a maximum of (4.80 +- 1.24) x 10/sup -16/ cm/sup 2/ at an energy of 27 +- 5 eV. The cross sections for higher-order ionization have values at 500 eV that are 49%, 33%, and 17% that of single ionization for n = 2, 3, and 4, respectively. These ratios are significantly higher than those for other elements for which data are available.
Ultrastructural evidence for differentiation in a human glioblastoma cell line treated with inhibitors of eicosanoid metabolism.

Human glioblastoma cells incubated in the presence of inhibitors of eicosanoid biosynthesis show decreased cellular proliferation without cytotoxicity. We studied the ultrastructural morphology of a human glioblastoma cell line cultured with nordihydroguaiaretic acid (NDGA), a lipoxygenase inhibitor
Ciliochoroidal effusions after neodymium:YAG posterior capsulotomy: Association with pre-existing glaucoma and uveitis

Two patients with a history of glaucoma and a propensity for uveitis developed ciliochoroidal effusions following Nd:YAG laser posterior capsulotomy. Both patients experienced a waxing and waning course with eventual resolution of symptoms after a steroid regimen. The ciliochoroidal effusions were presumed to be secondary to uveitis induced by the YAG laser surgery. The role of glaucoma, previous surgeries, and an open posterior capsule is uncertain but may have predisposed these patients to ciliochoroidal detachment. We advise caution in performing YAG posterior capsulotomy in patients with glaucoma and a known propensity for uveitis.
Analogue of Koopmans' theorem on separation energies in the renormalized Brueckner-Hartree-Fock theory

Abstract The near equality of separation energies and single-particle energies which holds in HF (Koopmans' theorem) but fails badly in BHF is shown analytically to be recovered in RBHF by virtue of the connection between the energy dependence of the effective interaction and the occupation probabilities of the normally occupied states.
Three-dimensional experimental spatial dynamic response of a reciprocating Freon compressor

A scanning laser Doppler vibrometer (LDV) was used to model one frequency of the spatially continuous 3-D dynamic response of an operating Freon compressor using a finite element formulation. The geometry from a pre-existing finite element model provided the static shape model of a compressor. The scanning LDV measured the velocity response at thousands of locations on the pressurized operating compressor. Positionally registered velocity data was acquired at multiple scanning positions of the laser. A weighted least- squares discrete finite element model was used to reconstruct the continuous 3-D velocity response field from the experimental data. Dynamic 3-D angular velocities, displacements, and accelerations were easily computed from the full field velocity response model. Finally, dynamic strain and stress fields across the shell elements were extracted by directly postprocessing the dynamic response.© (1994) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Some practical applications of phonetics in the teaching of speech

(1927). Some practical applications of phonetics in the teaching of speech. Quarterly Journal of Speech: Vol. 13, No. 3, pp. 291-305.
High-throughput mouse genotyping using robotics automation

The use of mouse models is rapidly expanding in biomedical research. This has dictated the need for the rapid genotyping of mutant mouse colonies for more efficient utilization of animal holding space. We have established a high-throughput protocol for mouse genotyping using two robotics workstations: a liquid-handling robot to assemble PCR and a microfluidics electrophoresis robot for PCR product analysis. This dual-robotics setup incurs lower start-up costs than a fully automated system while still minimizing human intervention. Essential to this automation scheme is the construction of a database containing customized scripts for programming the robotics workstations. Using these scripts and the robotics systems, multiple combinations of genotyping reactions can be assembled simultaneously, allowing even complex genotyping data to be generated rapidly with consistency and accuracy. A detailed protocol, database, scripts, and additional background information are available at http://dir.nhlbi.nih.gov/labs/ldb-chd/autogene/.
Simultaneous determination of local cerebral glucose utilization and blood flow by carbon-14 double-label autoradiography: Method of procedure and validation studies in the rat

Validation studies were undertaken to establish a computer-assisted double-label autoradiographic strategy employing (/sup 14/C)2-deoxyglucose ((/sup 14/C)2DG) and (/sup 14/C)iodoantipyrine ((/sup 14/C)IAP) to measure local CMRglu (LCMRglu) and CBF (LCBF). An organic solvent was used to extract the majority of IAP between first and second film exposures. In contrast to previously published data, all solvents tested produced partial losses of 2DG from tissue, and all allowed 2-6% of IAP to persist even after 5-day washes. Technical-grade chloroform permitted equal retention of unmetabolized and metabolized 2DG. A linear model was established, which was insensitive to the changes in tissue self-absorption that were shown to occur with chloroform extraction. Propagated error in computing tissue (/sup 14/C)2DG and (/sup 14/C)IAP was reduced by maximizing IAP extraction (by longer solvent wash times) and by administering 2.5 times as much IAP as 2DG. Fractional 2DG retention was measured in single-label 2DG sections placed on the films, and fractional IAP retention was evaluated by an optimization procedure. With this strategy, double-label values for LCMRglu and LCBF in anesthetized rats agreed with values obtained in matched single-label series to within 5%. The coefficients of variation for the double- and single-label LCMRglu data were virtually identical, whereas the coefficientmore » of variation for double-label LCBF was 1.8 times that of single-label LCBF. The double-label strategy permitted pixel-by-pixel measurement and video display of the LCMRglu/LCBF ratio; the mean value among structures was 0.472 mumol/ml. With proper attention to methodological detail, this double-label strategy shows great promise for routine laboratory application.« less
A first principles investigation of the mechanical properties of g-ZnO: The graphene-like hexagonal zinc oxide monolayer

Abstract We investigate the mechanical properties, including high order elastic constants, of the graphene-like hexagonal zinc oxide monolayer ( g -ZnO) using first-principles calculations based on density-functional theory. Compared to the graphene-like hexagonal boron nitride monolayer ( g -BN), g -ZnO is much softer, with 17% in-plane stiffness and 36%, 33%, and 33% ultimate strengths in armchair , zigzag , and biaxial strains respectively. However, g -ZnO has a larger Poisson’s ratio, 0.667, about three times that of g -BN. It was found that the g -ZnO also sustains much smaller strains before the rupture. We obtained the second, third, fourth, and fifth order elastic constants for a rigorous continuum description of the elastic response of g -ZnO. The second order elastic constants, including in-plane stiffness, are predicted to monotonically increase with pressure while the Poisson’s ratio monotonically decreases with increasing pressure.