cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Chemical structures of methane-air filtration combustion waves for fuel-lean and fuel-rich conditions

Chemical structures of filtration combustion waves in an inert porous media were analyzed comparatively for lean and rich methane-air mixtures. Temperature, velocity, and chemical products of the combustion waves were studied experimentally in the range of equivalence ratios from 0.2 to 2.5. Downstream (superadiabatic) wave propagation was observed for ultralean ( ≤0.45) and ultrarich ( ≥1.7) mixtures. Upstream (underadiabatic) propagation corresponds to the range of equivalence ratios from 0.45 to 1.7. It was found that with the equal heat content, rich mixtures have essentially higher combustion temperatures than corresponding lean mixtures. The products of partial methane oxidation (H2, CO, and C2 hydrocarbons) are dominant for ultrarich superadiabatic combustion where up to 60% of methane is converted to CO and H2. A numerical model, based on a two-temperature approximation and detailed combustion chemistry, is developed to analyze species profiles and the combustion mechanism of the filtration waves. The model predictions for combustion temperatures and chemical products are in good agreement with experimental data. Kinetic simulation revealed the complex chemical structure of the ultrarich superadiabatic waves. It is shown that this wave is composed of an exothermic “partial oxidation” reaction zone followed by an endothermic “steam reforming” zone.
Multipolar Governance and Global Imbalances

The deficiency of financial regulation and the presence of large macroeconomic global imbalances should be considered complementary interpretations of the global economic and financial crisis. The risk we face is that a new expansionary phase will bring back large and growing external imbalances, which will keep world growth on an unsustainable path. At the international level there is a classical ‘collective action’ problem to address since if export growth oriented strategies are pursued by all major countries they will generate a deflationary bias in world demand. This article explores how multilateral cooperation and international institutions can become reengaged with, and provides a meaningful device for addressing, these new issues and problems. It is necessary to restore shared rules of the game for international macroeconomic adjustment. This means endorsing a strengthened surveillance regime for the IMF in order to induce more compatible macroeconomic policies. In this regard, the IMF should have enforcement rule incentives and mechanisms, otherwise we are going to repeat past negative experiences where peer pressure did not produce significant results.
Selective Migration and Infant Mortality Among Puerto Ricans

Objective: This study examines the implications of migration to the United States for infant mortality among Puerto Rican mothers born in Puerto Rico. The roles of selective migration and duration of US residence are assessed. Method: Using survey data collected from mothers of infants sampled from computerized birth and infant death records of six US vital statistics reporting areas and Puerto Rico, we estimate logistic regression models of infant mortality among the sampled infants. These models provide a baseline for comparison with fixed-effects models based on all births within each mother's history. Results: Logistic regression models for sampled infants show that the risk of infant mortality is lower for migrant women than for nonmigrant women in Puerto Rico until the migrants have lived in the United States for a substantial period of time. Fixed-effects models indicate that once unmeasured stable characteristics of the mother are controlled, early migrants do not differ from nonmigrants with respect to the risk of infant death. Both sets of models demonstrate that as mothers’ exposure to the US mainland increases, the risk of infant mortality rises. Conclusions: Selective migration plays a role in the relatively low risk of infant mortality among recent Puerto Rican migrants to the United States. Migrants appear to be selected on qualities that contribute to favorable health outcomes for their offspring, but those qualities are later lost with exposure to life in the United States.
Build it yourself!: homegrown tools in a large software company

Developers sometimes take the initiative to build tools to solve problems they face. What motivates developers to build these tools? What is the value for a company? Are the tools built useful for anyone besides their creator? We conducted a qualitative study of tool building, adoption, and impact within Microsoft. This paper presents our findings on the extrinsic and intrinsic factors linked to toolbuilding, the value of building tools, and the factors associated with tool spread. We find that the majority of developers build tools. While most tools never spread beyond their creator's team, most have more than one user, and many have more than one collaborator. Organizational cultures that are receptive towards toolbuilding produce more tools, and more collaboration on tools. When nurtured and spread, homegrown tools have the potential to create significant impact on organizations.
Mobile genetic element activation and genotoxic cancer therapy: potential clinical implications.

Approximately one-quarter of the human genome is composed of short and long interspersed elements (SINEs and LINEs, respectively). These elements have spread throughout the genome by a process termed retrotransposition, consisting of transcription of an element into RNA, reverse transcription into cDNA, and reinsertion of the copied element into a new genomic location. Recombination events involving these elements, including novel insertions into active genes, have been associated with a number of human diseases. Despite the fact that these elements have replicated to hundreds of thousands of copies in the genome, under most conditions they remain transcriptionally silent, and therefore are not actively replicating. The signals controlling retrotransposable element activation in the genome have not been defined. Our laboratory recently found that exposure of cells to a variety of DNA-damaging agents, including several common chemotherapeutic drugs and γ-radiation, is associated with dramatic induction of SINE transcription, and of a concomitant endogenous reverse transcriptase activity. As SINEs do not encode for reverse transcriptase, the latter finding suggests a more global activation of retrotransposable elements in response to DNA damage. Together these observations suggest that genotoxic exposure may lead to genomic mutation not only through direct DNA damage, but also through indirect activation of potentially mutagenic mobile elements in the genome. The nonrandom distribution of retrotransposable elements in the human genome may contribute to the pattern of characteristic translocation events associated with secondary malignancies in patients exposed to genotoxic agents. Here we describe these and other mechanisms by which retrotransposable elements can contribute to disease, and present an overview of what is known about this large, and largely unexplored, segment of the genome. Understanding the cellular responses to genotoxic stress may permit the development of a means of predicting the risks and preventing the development of secondary malignancy following cancer therapy.
The Termination Thesis

The Termination Thesis (or “TT”) is the view that people go out of existence when they die. Lots of philosophers seem to believe it. Epicurus, for example, apparently makes use of TT in his efforts to show that it is irrational to fear death. He says, “as long as we exist, death is not with us; but when death comes, then we do not exist.” Lucretius says pretty much the same thing, but in many more words and more poetically: “Death therefore to us is nothing, concerns us not a jot, since the nature of the mind is proved to be mortal; . . . when we shall be no more, when there shall have been a separation of body and soul, out of both of which we are each formed into a single being, to us, you may be sure, who then shall be no more, nothing whatever can happen to excite sensation.” A considerably clearer and more economical statement of TT can be found in L. W. Sumner’s “A Matter of Life and Death.” Sumner says, “The death of a person is the end of that person; before death he is and after death he is not. To die is therefore to cease to exist.” In John Martin Fischer’s recent anthology of papers on the metaphysics of death, there are many passages in which philosophers seem to endorse TT. The philosophers in question appeal to it for a variety of purposes and often do not agree about its significance. One fairly good example is Thomas Nagel, who puts it in the antecedent of a conditional in the first sentence of his essay, though I think he provisionally endorses it elsewhere: “If death is the unequivocal and permanent end of our existence, then the question arises whether it is a bad thing to die.” Other “terminators” in the Fischer anthology include Harry Silverstein, Stephen Rosenbaum, Palle Yourgrau, Steven Luper-Foy, and Joel Feinberg. In his book Thinking Clearly about Death, Jay Rosenberg presents a vigorous endorsement of TT. This comes out in a preliminary way in his discussion of Aunt Midwest Studies in Philosophy, XXIV (2000)
Quantum statistical modified entropic gravity as a theoretical basis for MOND

Considering the quantum statistics of the degrees of freedom on the holographic screen, it is shown that the ratio of the number of excited bulk degrees of freedom to the number of excited surface degrees of freedom is given by the modified Newtonian dynamics (MOND) interpolating function $\stackrel{\texttildelow{}}{\ensuremath{\mu}}$. This relationship is shown to hold also in aquadratic Lagrangian theory and in the extension of MOND to de Sitter space. Based on the relationship between the entropy and the number of degrees of freedom on the holographic screen, a simple expression, relating the MOND interpolating function to the ratio of the two-dimensional entropy to Bekenstein-Hawking entropy, is obtained. In terms of this expression MOND can be viewed as a modification of gravity arising due to a bound on the maximum entropy for the holographic screen.
Aging as a window into central auditory dysfunction: Combining behavioral and electrophysiological approaches

Central auditory processing involves a complex set of feed-forward and feedback processes governed by a cascade of dynamic neuro-chemical mechanisms. Central auditory dysfunction can arise from disruption of one or more of these processes. With hearing loss, dysfunction may begin with reduced and/or altered input to the central auditory system followed by peripherally induced central plasticity. Similar central changes may occur with advancing age and neurological disorders even in the absence of hearing loss. Understanding the behavioral and physiological consequences of this plasticity on the processing of basic acoustic features is critical for effective clinical management. Major central auditory processing deficits include reduced temporal processing, impaired binaural hearing, and altered coding of spectro-temporal features. These basic deficits are thought to be primary contributing factors to the common complaint of difficulty understanding speech in noisy environments in persons with hearing loss, brain injury, and advanced age. The results of investigations of temporal, spectral, and spectro-temporal processing, binaural hearing, and loudness perception will be presented with a focus on central auditory deficits that occur with advancing age and hearing loss. Such deficits can be tied to reduced peripheral input, altered central coding, and complex changes in cortical representations.
Working memory templates are maintained as feature-specific perceptual codes

Working memory (WM) representations serve as templates that guide behavior, but the neural basis of these templates remains elusive. We tested the hypothesis that WM templates are maintained by biasing activity in sensoriperceptual neurons that code for features of items being held in memory. Neural activity was recorded using event-related potentials (ERPs) as participants viewed a series of faces and responded when a face matched a target face held in WM. Our prediction was that if activity in neurons coding for the features of the target is preferentially weighted during maintenance of the target, then ERP activity evoked by a nontarget probe face should be commensurate with the visual similarity between target and probe. Visual similarity was operationalized as the degree of overlap in visual features between target and probe. A face-sensitive ERP response was modulated by target-probe similarity. Amplitude was largest for probes that were similar to the target, and decreased monotonically as a function of decreasing target-probe similarity. These results indicate that neural activity is weighted in favor of visual features that comprise an actively held memory representation. As such, our findings support the notion that WM templates rely on neural populations involved in forming percepts of memory items.
Argument ellipsis and the licensing of covert nominals in Bangla, Hindi and Malayalam

Abstract This paper investigates the licensing of Argument Ellipsis/AE in three major languages of South Asia: Bangla, Malayalam and Hindi and a recent claim made in Sener and Takahashi (2009) and Takahashi, 2011 , Takahashi, in press that the critical factor responsible for AE in null argument languages is the absence of verbal agreement. Observing and manipulating patterns of subject and object agreement in these languages, it is concluded that agreement does not appear to play a role in restricting AE. The paper then considers two other alternatives to the anti-agreement approach to AE ( Hoji, 1998 , Otaki, 2012 ), which instead relate the occurrence of AE to various interpretative and morphological properties of nominal elements, and emphasizes the important facilitating role that the use of anaphors frequently plays in the licensing of AE.
Alternative hydrocarbon solvents for cottonseed extraction: Plant trials

Hexane has been used for decades to extract oil from cottonseed and is still the solvent of choice for the edible-oil industry. Due to increased regulations as a result of the 1990 Clean Air Act and potential health risks, the edible-oil extraction industry urgently needs an alternate hydrocarbon solvent to replace hexane. Based on laboratory-scale extraction tests, two hydrocarbon solvents, heptane and isohexane, were recommended as potential replacements for hexane. A cottonseed processing mill with a 270 MT/day (300 tons/day) capacity agreed to test both solvents with their expander-solvent process. Extraction efficiencies of isohexane and heptane, judged by extraction time and residual oil in meal, refined and bleached color of miscella refined oil, and solvent loss, were comparable to that of hexane. However, fewer problems were encountered with the lower-boiling isohexane than with the higher-boiling heptane. With isohexane, the daily throughput increased more than 20%, and natural gas consumption decreased more than 40% as compared to hexane.
Viscoplasticity of parylene-C film at body temperature

As parylene-C, a thermal plastic, has been extensively used as an implant material, its viscoplastic behavior at body temperature has never been systematically studied. Presented here is the first extensive in vitro study of the viscoplastic behaviors of 20-μm-thick parylene-C film at 37°C. The viscoplastic behaviors are investigated by uniaxial tensile tests at different strain rates (Figure 2), cyclic loading/unloading test (Figure 3) abrupt strain rate changing (Figure 4), creep-recovery (Figure 5), and stress-relaxation (Figure 6). There are three major conclusions here. First, below a stress of 2.5MPa, no observable viscoplastic behavior of 20-μm-thick parylene-C is found. Secondly, parylene-C film is a strain (or stress) and strain-rate dependent viscoplastic material. Thirdly, Burger's model is adequate to describe both creep and stress relaxation behaviors. In addition, the rate of the creep recovery (modeled with a single time constant) and stress relaxation (modeled with two time constants) decreases with increasing applied stress and/or strain.
Round and amoeboid microglial cells in the neonatal rabbit brain.

Round and amoeboid microglial cells in brains of neonatal rabbits have been studied with light and electron microscopy. They are present mainly in the white matter where there are large extracellular spaces, but a few occur in the vicinity of blood vessels in the basal ganglia. They are easily recognized by the shape of their processes. Both round and amoeboid cells are highly differentiated cells whose size and cytoplasmic vacuoles are similar to phagocytes. They lack the fibrils and microtubules of young nerve and glial cells and contain a rich complement of cytoplasmic organelles. Large numbers of lipid bodies and vacuoles are their most characteristic features. Small vacuoles are concentrated near the cell surface and contain material identical to that filling the extracellular space. They appear to arise as invaginations at the cell surface, to unite to form large vacuoles, and to increase in density as their contents are degraded. The role of these cells in the embryonic development of the brain is not clear and further work is in progress to establish their origin and fate.
Structure of anthrax edema factor-calmodulin-adenosine 5'-(alpha,beta-methylene)-triphosphate complex reveals an alternative mode of ATP binding to the catalytic site.

Abstract Anthrax edema factor (EF) is a key virulence factor secreted by Bacillus anthracis. Here, we report a structure, at 3.0 A resolution, of the catalytic domain of EF (EF3) in complex with calmodulin (CaM) and adenosine 5′-(α,β-methylene)-triphosphate (AMPCPP). Although the binding of the triphosphate of AMPCPP to EF3 can be superimposed on that of previously determined 3′deoxy-ATP (3′dATP) and 2′deoxy 3′anthraniloyl-ATP (2′d3′ANT-ATP) in EF3-CaM, the ribose and the adenine rings of AMPCPP are rotated approximately 105 and 180°, respectively, relative to those of 3′dATP and 2′d3′ANT-ATP. Based on this model, K382 and F586 should play key roles in the recognition of adenine. However, mutations of these residues to alanine either separately or together cause only modest changes in Michaelis–Menten constants and IC50 values of AMPCPP and cAMP. Therefore, this alternate binding mode of the adenosine of AMPCPP binds to EF likely playing only a minor role in ATP binding and in catalysis.
Sensory representation abnormalities that parallel focal hand dystonia in a primate model.

In our hypothesis of focal dystonia, attended repetitive behaviors generate aberrant sensory representations. Those aberrant representations interfere with motor control. Abnormal motor control strengthens sensory abnormalities. The positive feedback loop reinforces the dystonic condition. Previous studies of primates with focal hand dystonia have demonstrated multi-digit or hairy-glabrous responses at single sites in area 3b, receptive fields that average ten times larger than normal, and high receptive field overlap as a function of horizontal distance. In this study, we strengthen and elaborate these findings. One animal was implanted with an array of microelectrodes that spanned the border between the face and digits. After the animal developed hand dystonia, responses in the initial hand representation increasingly responded to low threshold stimulation of the face in a columnar substitution. The hand-face border that is normally sharp became patchy and smeared over 1 mm of cortex within 6 weeks. Two...
Purification and characterization of α1-proteinase inhibitor from microsomal fraction of normal human liver

A plasma alpha 1-proteinase inhibitor was purified, for the first time, from the microsomal fraction of normal human liver by combined procedures of deoxycholate extraction, (NH4)2-SO4 precipitation, gel filtration and immunoadsorbent column chromatographies. The final yield of the material was approx. 15 mg/300 g liver. The preparation was shown to be homogeneous according to polyacrylamide gel electrophoretic and immunological criteria. The estimated molecular weight of the glycoprotein as determined by sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis was 53 000, a value comparable to that reported for plasma alpha 1-proteinase inhibitor. The liver material was, however, devoid of trypsin-, chymotrypsin- or elastase-inhibitory activity. The loss of activity could be due to deoxycholate treatment during the extraction procedure. SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of reduced (beta-mercaptoethanol) and alkylated (iodoacetamide) preparation revealed no change in mobility suggesting the presence of only polypeptide chain. The amino acid and carbohydrate compositions of the microsomal material were in close agreement with values reported in the literatures for the corresponding glycoprotein purified from the plasma. The liver microsomal alpha 1-proteinase inhibitor has a single amino terminal residue, namely, glutamic acid, as determined by the dansyl procedure, and a single carboxyl terminal residue, lysine as shown by the carboxypeptidase digestion method. These terminal amino acids are the same as those found in alpha 1-proteinase inhibitor purified from normal human plasma.
ANDES: Statistical tools for the ANalyses of DEep Sequencing

The advancements in DNA sequencing technologies have allowed researchers to progress from the analyses of a single organism towards the deep sequencing of a sample of organisms. With sufficient sequencing depth, it is now possible to detect subtle variations between members of the same species, or between mixed species with shared biomarkers, such as the 16S rRNA gene. However, traditional sequencing analyses of samples from largely homogeneous populations are often still based on multiple sequence alignments (MSA), where each sequence is placed along a separate row and similarities between aligned bases can be followed down each column. While this visual format is intuitive for a small set of aligned sequences, the representation quickly becomes cumbersome as sequencing depths cover loci hundreds or thousands of reads deep. We have developed ANDES, a software library and a suite of applications, written in Perl and R, for the statistical ANalyses of DEep Sequencing. The fundamental data structure underlying ANDES is the position profile, which contains the nucleotide distributions for each genomic position resultant from a multiple sequence alignment (MSA). Tools include the root mean square deviation (RMSD) plot, which allows for the visual comparison of multiple samples on a position-by-position basis, and the computation of base conversion frequencies (transition/transversion rates), variation (Shannon entropy), inter-sample clustering and visualization (dendrogram and multidimensional scaling (MDS) plot), threshold-driven consensus sequence generation and polymorphism detection, and the estimation of empirically determined sequencing quality values. As new sequencing technologies evolve, deep sequencing will become increasingly cost-efficient and the inter and intra-sample comparisons of largely homogeneous sequences will become more common. We have provided a software package and demonstrated its application on various empirically-derived datasets. Investigators may download the software from Sourceforge at https://sourceforge.net/projects/andestools .
Biomarkers for Cognitive Aging Part I Telomere Length, Blood Pressure and Cognition Among Individuals with Hypertension

Chronological age is used as a marker for age-associated changes in cognitive function. However, there is great interindividual variability in cognitive ability among people of the same age. Physiological age rather than chronological age should be more closely associated with age-related cognitive changes because these changes are not universal and are likely dependent on several factors in addition to the number of years lived. Cognitive function is associated with successful self-management, and a biological marker that reflects physiological age and is associated with cognitive function could be used to identify risk for failure to self-manage. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between telomere length, a known biomarker of age; blood pressure; cognitive assessments; and adherence to antihypertensive medication among community-dwelling middle-aged and older adults. The authors administered a battery of cognitive assessments to 42 participants (M = 69 years of age), collected blood samples, and isolated peripheral blood mononuclear leukocytes for genomic DNA. The authors determined relative telomere length using Cawthon's method for real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and measured medication adherence using an electronic medication monitoring system (MEMS by Aardex) over 8 weeks. Findings indicate that telomere length was inversely associated with systolic blood pressure (r = -.38, p < .01) and diastolic blood pressure (r = -.42, p < .01) but not with cognitive assessments or adherence. The authors discuss the nonsignificant findings between telomere length and cognitive assessments including the potential modifying role of gender.
Electronic structure studies of a clock-reconstructed Al/Pd(1 0 0) surface alloy

Abstract We have employed solid-state Fenske–Hall band structure calculations to examine the electronic structure of Al/Pd(1 0 0), a surface alloy that undergoes a reconstruction, or rearrangement, of the atoms in the top few surface layers. Surface alloys are materials that consist primarily of a single elemental metal, but which have a bimetallic surface composition that is only a few atomic layers in thickness. The results of this study indicate that reconstruction into a clock configuration simultaneously optimizes the intralayer bonding within the surface plane and the bonding between the first and second atomic layers. These results also allow us to examine the fundamental relationship between the electronic and physical structures of this reconstructed surface alloy.
Presence of the vomeronasal system in aquatic salamanders

Previous reports have indicated that members of the proteid family of salamanders lack a vomeronasal system, and this absence has been interpreted as representing the ancestral condition for aquatic amphibians. I examined the anatomy of the nasal cavities, nasal epithelia, and forebrains of members of the proteid family, mudpuppies (Necturus maculosus), as well as members of the amphiumid and sirenid families (Amphiuma tridactylum and Siren intermedia). Using a combination of light and transmission electron microscopy, I found no evidence that mudpuppies possess a vomeronasal system, but found that amphiuma and sirens possess both vomeronasal and olfactory systems. Amphiumids and sirenids are considered to be outgroups relative to proteids; therefore, these data indicate that the vomeronasal system is generally present in salamanders and has been lost in mudpuppies. Given that the vomeronasal system is generally present in aquatic amphibians, and that the last common ancestor of amphibians and amniotes is believed to have been fully aquatic, I conclude that the vomeronasal system arose in aquatic tetrapods and did not originate as an adaptation to terrestrial life.This conclusion has important implications for the hypothesis that the vomeronasal organ is specialized for detection of non-volatile compounds.
Climate Change Communication Research Here and Now: A Reflection on Where We Came From and Where We are Going

Climate change communication researchers have been very busy in the last year. Popular media widely reported that 2012 was the hottest year on record. Droughts continued to affect agricultural prod...
Matrix partitioning methods for interior point algorithms

We consider here a linear programming problem whose rows of the constraint matrix can be partitioned into two parts. Such natural partitions exist in several special linear programs, including the assignment problem, the transportation problem, the generalized upper-bounded variable problem, the block diagonal linear program; and can also be used to induce sparsity patterns in Cholesky factorizations. In this paper, we propose a matrix partitioning method for interior point algorithms. The proposed method independently generates Cholesky factorizations of each part, and reduces the complexity to that of solving generally, a dense linear system involving several rank one updates of the identity matrix. Here, we propose solving this linear system by an inductive use of the Sherman-Morrison-Woodbury formula. The proposed method is easily implemented on a vector, parallel machine as well as on a distributed system. Such partitioning methods have been popular in the context of the simplex method, where the special structure of the basis matrix is exploited.
Dynamic interaction between suspended particles and defects in a nematic liquid crystal.

Insertion of spherical particles into a uniform nematic liquid crystal gives rise to the formation of topological defects. In the present work, we investigate how a spherical particle accompanied by its topological defects interacts with neighboring disclination lines. We perform two- and three-dimensional dynamic simulations to analyze the effect of a particle on the annihilation process of two disclination lines. The dynamics of the liquid crystal is described by a time-dependent evolution equation on the symmetric traceless order parameter that includes some of the salient features of liquid crystalline materials: excluded volume effects, or equivalently, short-range order elasticity and long-range order elasticity. At the surface of the particle, the liquid crystal is assumed to exhibit strong homeotropic anchoring. The particle is located between two disclination lines of topological charges $+1/2$ and $\ensuremath{-}1/2.$ Two-dimensional simulations indicate that the topological defects bound to the particle mediate an interaction between the two disclination lines which increases the attraction between them. This result is confirmed by three-dimensional simulations that provide a complete description of the director field and of the order parameter around the particle. These simulations indicate that a spherical particle between two disclination lines can be surrounded by a Saturn ring, and suggest that the dynamic behavior of disclination lines could be used to report the structure of a defect around the particle.
Effect of transforming growth factor-β neutralization on survival and bacterial clearance in a murine model of Pseudomonas aeruginosa burn wound infection

Transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta), a cytokine with anti-inflammatory properties, may contribute to postburn immunosuppression. This study was designed to determine whether neutralizing TGF-beta in burned mice could improve resistance to infection. C57BL/6J mice received a 35% TBSA flame burn under isoflurane anesthesia. Four days after injury, mice were treated with TGF-beta antibody or nonspecific IgG. On day 5 after burn injury, mice were inoculated with Pseudomonas aeruginosa at the burn wound site or received intraperitoneal injection with P. aeruginosa. Mice treated with anti-TGF-beta exhibited significantly improved survival compared with mice treated with nonspecific IgG after challenge with P. aeruginosa at the burn wound site or after intraperitoneal injection of P. aeruginosa. In mice with burn wound infections, bacterial counts in burn wounds, blood, and lung were decreased in mice treated with anti-TGF-beta compared with mice treated with control IgG. Bacterial counts in lung and blood after intraperitoneal challenge with P. aeruginosa also were significantly lower in burned mice treated with anti-TGF-beta compared with those treated with nonspecific IgG. Our data suggest that neutralization of TGF-beta at 4 days after burn injury in mice improves local and systemic clearance of P. aeruginosa and enhances survival after P. aeruginosa challenge.
Polyphenol-rich pomegranate fruit extract (POMx) suppresses PMACI-induced expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines by inhibiting the activation of MAP Kinases and NF-κB in human KU812 cells

Mast cells and basophils are multifunctional effector cells and contain plentiful secretary granules in their cytoplasm. These cell types are involved in several inflammatory and immune events and are known to produce an array of mediators including a broad spectrum of cytokines. Pomegranate fruit is rich in anthocyanins and hydrolysable tannins; a group of polyphenolic compounds shown to be potent antioxidant with anti-inflammatory activity. However, no studies have been undertaken to investigate whether a polyphenol-rich pomegranate fruit extract (POMx) inhibits the inflammatory activity of activated human mast cells and basophils. The aim of this study was to examine whether POMx modulates inflammatory reactions using human basophilic cell line KU812. KU812 cells were stimulated with phorbol-12-myristate 13-acetate plus calcium inophore A23187 (PMACI). The inhibitory effect of POMx on pro-inflammatory cytokine gene expression and production by stimulated KU812 cells was measured by quantitative RT-PCR, and cytokine-specific ELISA assays, respectively. Western blotting was used to analyze the effect of POMx on the activation of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs), and the nuclear factor (NF)-κB in PMACI stimulated KU812 cells. Effect on the activity of NF-κB was determined using Luciferase reporter assay. Significance of differences from control values were analyzed by means of standard statistical methods. POMx significantly decreased PMACI stimulated inflammatory gene expression and production of interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-8 in KU812 cells. The inhibitory effect of POMx on the pro-inflammatory cytokines was MAPK subgroups c-jun N-terminal kinase (JNK)- and extracellular-regulated kinase (ERK) dependent. In addition, POMx suppressed the NF-κB activation induced by PMACI by inhibiting IκB-degradation in human basophil cells. POMx also suppressed the powerful induction of NF-κB promoter-mediated luciferase activity in transiently transfected KU812 cells. These novel pharmacological actions of POMx provide new suggestion that POMx or POMx-derived compounds may be of therapeutic use for the treatment of inflammatory diseases by suppressing mast cells/basophils activation.
Technical Note-An Improved Feasibility Test for Gorenstein's Algorithm

The purpose of this note is to propose a simpler feasibility criterion for the disjunctive-graph model proposed by Balas and implemented by Gorenstein in an algorithm for resource-constrained project scheduling.
15N NMR chemical shifts in solid NH+4 salts

Abstract 15 N NMR CP/MAS spectra of solid NH + 4 salts show substantial chemical shift differences. Ab initio calculations indicate that changes in NH + 4 geometry and anion environment can account for the range of shifts.
Fructose–Water–Dimethylsulfoxide Interactions by Vibrational Spectroscopy and Molecular Dynamics Simulations

The solvation of fructose in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and DMSO–H2O (or DMSO–D2O) mixtures was investigated using vibrational spectroscopy (Raman, ATR/FTIR) and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The analysis of the fructose hydroxyl hydrogen–DMSO oxygen radial distribution function showed that the coordination number of DMSO around the furanose form of fructose is ∼3.5. This number is smaller than the number of hydroxyl groups of fructose because one DMSO molecule is shared between two hydroxyl groups and because intramolecular hydrogen bonds are formed. In the case of fructose–DMSO mixtures, a red shift of the Raman S═O asymmetric stretch is observed, which indicates that fructose breaks the DMSO clusters through strong hydrogen bonding between the hydrogen atoms of its hydroxyl groups and the oxygen atom of DMSO. The Raman scattering cross sections of the DMSO S═O stretch when a DMSO molecule interacts with another DMSO molecule, a fructose molecule, or a water molecule were estimated from the spectr...
Interactions between iron deficiency and lead poisoning: epidemiology and pathogenesis

Iron deficiency and lead poisoning are common among infants and children in many parts of the world, and often these two problems are associated. Both conditions are known to cause anemia and appear to produce a more severe form of anemia when in combination. Although the nature of their relationship is not completely elucidated, characterization of a common iron-lead transporter and epidemiological studies among children strongly suggest that iron deficiency may increase susceptibility to lead poisoning. Recent human studies suggest that high iron intake and sufficient iron stores may reduce the risk of lead poisoning. Future clinical trials are necessary to assess the effect of iron supplementation in the public health prevention of lead poisoning and the kinetics of lead in the body.
Do perceived attitudes of physicians and hospital staff affect breastfeeding decisions

: Background: In the United States, since a substantial percentage of mothers are not breastfeeding, research is needed to assess important influences on breastfeeding. The current study assessed the impact on breastfeeding of the perceived attitudes of health care providers about infant feeding. Methods: A longitudinal mail survey (1993–1994) was administered to 1620 women prenatally through 12 months postpartum; the current study focused on the prenatal and neonatal periods (66% response rate). The outcome variable was failure to breastfeed beyond 6 weeks. Predictor variables were the mother's perceptions of her prenatal physician's and hospital staff's attitudes on infant feeding. Analysis controlled for mother's prenatal breastfeeding intentions, father's feeding preference, and demographic and psychosocial variables. Results: Forty-one percent of the mothers were not breastfeeding at 6 weeks postpartum. Substantial percentages of mothers reported that physicians and hospital staff expressed a preference for breastfeeding (38% and 57%, respectively), or expressed no preference (61% and 42%, respectively), whereas few favored formula feeding. Adjusted analyses indicated that “no preference” by hospital staff was a significant risk factor for failure to breastfeed beyond 6 weeks. “No preference” by physicians did not significantly influence breastfeeding outcome in these analyses. Further analyses indicated that the effects of perceived hospital staff attitudes were only present for mothers who intended prenatally to breastfeed for 2 months or less. Conclusions: Many women did not report receiving positive breastfeeding messages from their health caregivers and hospital staff. A perceived neutral attitude from the hospital staff is related to not breastfeeding beyond 6 weeks, especially among mothers who prenatally intended to breastfeed for only a short time. (BIRTH 30:2 June 2003)
UVIII-positive chemically amplified resist optimization

A highly sensitive resist is required for the fabrication of X-ray membrane masks (1X) using electron-beam lithography. Current products require precise control of 175nm critical dimensions with test features of 100 to 125nm. UVIII®, a chemically amplified positive resist designed for DUV processes, also functions as an electron-beam resist with sensitivities of 12 to 30μC/ cm 2 , depending upon the bake parameters. This paper discusses the process and demonstrates the capability of the resist on membranes. The post-apply bake (PAB) and post-expose bake (PEB) affect the resist sensitivity and process latitude of UVIII. The process was defined using a statistically designed experiment (DOE) to optimize the PAB and PEB conditions. The figures of merit included resist sensitivity, dose latitude and resolution. When the patterning process was defined, the etch processes were developed for both the SiON hardmask and TaSi absorber. Features as small as 100nm have been successfully transferred from UVIII resist into the TaSi membrane with critical dimension (CD) uniformity of less than 20nm 3σ within a mask (approximately 30 X 23mm membrane). The process latitude, high resolution, and excellent CD uniformity indicate the UVIII resist is compatible with the manufacturing envirnoment required for the fabrication of x-ray membrane masks.
Epidermal growth factor stimulates 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase expression via the ErbB-2 pathway in human breast adenocarcinoma cells.

Abstract HMG-CoA reductase is the key enzyme for the biosynthesis of isoprenoid compounds essential for cell growth and differentiation. Its tyrosine kinase-dependent modulation has recently been suggested and described in the ErbB-2 overexpressing cell line SKBR-3 [Asslan et al. (1998) Biochem. J. 330, 241–246]. Epidermal growth factor (EGF) increased the HMG-CoA reductase activity, protein, and mRNA levels only in ErbB-2-expressing cells (SKBR-3 and MCF-7) but not in MDA-MB-468 cells that do not express ErbB-2 even though their EGF receptor was efficiently phosphorylated. Tyrphostin AG 879, a specific inhibitor of ErbB-2 tyrosine kinase activity, decreased HMG-CoA reductase activity only in cells that expressed ErbB-2. A functional EGF receptor appeared to be necessary since its inhibition by the specific tyrphostin AG 1478 abolished the EGF effects. Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI 3-kinase) might be a crucial enzyme in the signaling pathway since the specific inhibitor, LY 294002, was shown to inhibit HMG-CoA reductase activity and to completely abolish the stimulation by EGF in SKBR-3 cells.
Laser photofragment study of ethyl chloride cation at 5145 Å

We present the product kinetic energy distribution for the photodissociation of the ethyl chloride cation at 5145 A. The energy partitioning is consistent with a direct dissociation mechanism in which a combination of recoil effects and FrancknCondon effects dispose 85% of the available energy into fragment internal degrees of freedom. (AIP)
The Impact of a Culture-Sensitive Intake Assessment on the Treatment of a Depressed Biracial Child:

Cultural competence is a required skill set for all mental health professionals. The range of necessary skills is wide and can therefore be intimidating. However, mental health professionals need n...
A new approach to electron-beam reference dosimetry.

A new approach is proposed for electron-beam dosimetry under reference conditions and data necessary to use this approach are presented. The approach has the following features: it uses ion chambers and starts from an absorbed-dose calibration factor for 60 Co to be consistent with the present proposal for the new AAPM photon-beam protocol; it uses R 50 to specify the beam quality and the reference depth, d ref =0.6R 50 −0.1 (all quantities in cm), recommended by Burns et al. [Med. Phys. 23, 383–388 (1996)]; it has a formalism which is parallel to the k Q formalism for photon-beam dosimetry; it fully accounts for the impact on stopping-power ratios of realistic electron beams; it allows an easy transition to using primary standards for absorbed dose to water in electron beams when these are available. The equation for dose to water under reference conditions is: D w Q =MP ion P gr Q k R 50 ′ k ecal N D,w 60 Co . The term P gr Q is not needed with plane-parallel chambers but corrects for gradient effects with cylindrical chambers and is measured in the user’s beam. The parameter k ecal is associated with converting the 60 Co absorbed-dose calibration factor into one for an electron beam of quality Q e and contains most of the chamber to chamber variation. Calculated values of k ecal are presented as well as Monte Carlo calculated P wall values for plane-parallel chambers in a water phantom irradiated by a 60 Co beam since these are needed to calculate k ecal . The factor k R 50 ′ is a function of R 50 and converts the absorbed-dose calibration factor to that for the electron-beam quality of interest. Two analytical expressions are presented which are close to universal expressions for all cylindrical Farmer-like chambers and for well-guarded plane-parallel chambers respectively. Calculated values are presented graphically for electron beams with energies between 5 and 50 MeV.
A comparative analysis of reduced arterial models for hemodynamic monitoring

We performed a comparative analysis of reduced arterial models. These models are characterized by a few parameters that can be uniquely estimated from the limited measurements often available in practice. Hence, they offer a means to improve hemodynamic monitoring. We specifically describe Windkessel, transmission-line, and recursive difference equation models, show how they are related, pinpoint their capabilities and limitations, and review how we have applied them for less invasive cardiac output monitoring.
Research of Film Uniformity on Vacuum Coating by Magnetron Sputtering with Multi-Sites

A new type of multi-site magnetron sputtering system has been researched, which has more than one workbench. Based on the operating principle of the magnetron sputtering system which with a circular plane target, a mathematical model has been developed to simulate and discuss the influencing factors on the film thickness uniformity. The results showed that when the substrates were rotating axially and eccentrically, the film thickness distribution were affected by both the target-substrate distance and the eccentricity. If the eccentricity was constant, the film thickness would become thinner when the target-substrate distance increased, and the thickness uniformity tended to be improved. If the target-substrate distance was constant, the thickness uniformity would become better when the eccentricity increased. Moreover, if the substrate rotated axially and revolved around the target simultaneously, the thickness uniformity would become better when velocity ratio of axial rotation to revolution increased. And the effect of the thickness uniformity became small gradually if the ratio increases to a certain degree. In addition, increasing the etching area properly not only could conduct the film distribution to better, and improve the substrate film thickness uniformity also. Finally, taking a series of experiments, and analyzing the experimental data, the conclusion of the study results in the paper had been verified.
Structural design of spars for 100-m biplane wind turbine blades

Abstract Large wind turbine blades are being developed at lengths of 75–100 m, in order to improve energy capture and reduce the cost of wind energy. Bending loads in the inboard region of the blade make large blade development challenging. The “biplane blade” design was proposed to use a biplane inboard region to improve the design of the inboard region and improve overall performance of large blades. This paper focuses on the design of the internal “biplane spar” structure for 100-m biplane blades. Several spars were designed to approximate the Sandia SNL100-00 blade (“monoplane spar”) and the biplane blade (“biplane spar”). Analytical and computational models are developed to analyze these spars. The analytical model used the method of minimum total potential energy; the computational model used beam finite elements with cross-sectional analysis. Simple load cases were applied to each spar and their deflections, bending moments, axial forces, and stresses were compared. Similar performance trends are identified with both the analytical and computational models. An approximate buckling analysis shows that compressive loads in the inboard biplane region do not exceed buckling loads. A parametric analysis shows biplane spar configurations have 25–35% smaller tip deflections and 75% smaller maximum root bending moments than monoplane spars of the same length and mass per unit span. Root bending moments in the biplane spar are largely relieved by axial forces in the biplane region, which are not significant in the monoplane spar. The benefits for the inboard region could lead to weight reductions in wind turbine blades. Innovations that create lighter blades can make large blades a reality, suggesting that the biplane blade may be an attractive design for large (100-m) blades.