cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Lamellar cells in Pacinian and Meissner corpuscles are touch sensors

Abstract The skin covering the human palm and other specialized tactile organs contains a high density of mechanosensory corpuscles tuned to detect transient pressure and vibration. These corpuscles comprise a sensory afferent neuron surrounded by lamellar cells1-3. The neuronal afferent is thought to be the mechanical sensor within the corpuscle, whereas the function of lamellar cells is unknown2,4,5. Here we show that lamellar cells within Meissner and Pacinian corpuscles detect tactile stimuli. We develop a preparation of bill skin from tactile-specialist ducks that permits electrophysiological recordings from lamellar cells and demonstrate that they contain mechanically-gated ion channels. We also show that lamellar cells from Meissner corpuscles generate mechanically-evoked action potentials using R-type voltage-gated calcium channels. These findings provide the first evidence for R-type channel-dependent action potentials in non-neuronal cells and demonstrate that lamellar cells are active detectors of touch. We propose that Meissner and Pacinian corpuscles use both neuronal and non-neuronal mechanoreception to detect mechanical signals.
Grain Inorganic Arsenic Content in Rice Managed Through Targeted Introgressions and Irrigation Management

Arsenic (As) accumulation in rice grain is a significant public health concern. Inorganic As (iAs) is of particular concern because it has increased toxicity as compared to organic As. Irrigation management practices, such as alternate wetting and drying (AWD), as well as genotypic differences between cultivars, have been shown to influence As accumulation in rice grain. A 2 year field study using a Lemont × TeQing backcross introgression line (TIL) mapping population examined the impact of genotype and AWD severity on iAs grain concentrations. The "Safe"-AWD [35-40% soil volumetric water content (VWC)] treatment did not reduce grain iAs levels, whereas the more severe AWD30 (25-30% VWC) consistently reduced iAs concentrations across all genotypes. The TILs displayed a range of iAs concentrations by genotype, from less than 10 to up to 46 μg kg-1 under AWD30 and from 28 to 104 μg kg-1 under Safe-AWD. TIL grain iAs concentrations for flood treatments across both years ranged from 26 to 127 μg kg-1. Additionally, seven quantitative trait loci (QTLs) were identified in the mapping population associated with grain iAs. A subset of eight TILs and their parents were grown to confirm field-identified grain iAs QTLs in a controlled greenhouse environment. Greenhouse results confirmed the genotypic grain iAs patterns observed in the field; however, iAs concentrations were higher under greenhouse conditions as compared to the field. In the greenhouse, the number of days under AWD was negatively correlated with grain iAs concentrations. Thus, longer drying periods to meet the same soil VWC resulted in lower grain iAs levels. Both the number and combinations of iAs-affecting QTLs significantly impacted grain iAs concentrations. Therefore, identifying more grain iAs-affecting QTLs could be important to inform future breeding efforts for low iAs rice varieties. Our study suggests that coupling AWD practices targeting a soil VWC of less than or equal to 30% coupled with the use of cultivars developed to possess multiple QTLs that negatively regulate grain iAs concentrations will be helpful in mitigating exposure of iAs from rice consumption.
Anxiety in a Preschool-Aged Sample with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Developmental Delay: Rates, Symptom Manifestation, and Parenting Risk Variables

Introduction: Children with developmental delays (DD) and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are at a high risk for emotional and behavioral concerns. Research examining co-occurring anxiety in those w...
Twenty-five years of aerodynamic research with infrared imaging

A review is presented of the commercial introduction of IR imaging systems in the midsixties that has opened the possibilities to visualize viscous interactions between a body and the surrounding airflow by mapping the surface temperature distributions on configurations of interest. The capability of IR imaging systems to produce in real-time thermograms, which can be interpreted both locally and globally, makes them useful for heat transfer and skin-friction aerodynamic studies. Attention is given to IR systems and data processing, supersonic and hypersonic studies, Space Shuttle flight experiments, subsonic and transonic studies, and propulsion studies.
Functional Features of the Respiratory Syncytial Virus G Protein

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a major cause of serious lower respiratory tract infections in children <5 years of age worldwide and repeated infections throughout life leading to serious disease in the elderly and persons with compromised immune, cardiac, and pulmonary systems. The disease burden has made it a high priority for vaccine and antiviral drug development but without success except for immune prophylaxis for certain young infants. Two RSV proteins are associated with protection, F and G, and F is most often pursued for vaccine and antiviral drug development. Several features of the G protein suggest it could also be an important to vaccine or antiviral drug target design. We review features of G that effect biology of infection, the host immune response, and disease associated with infection. Though it is not clear how to fit these together into an integrated picture, it is clear that G mediates cell surface binding and facilitates cellular infection, modulates host responses that affect both immunity and disease, and its CX3C aa motif contributes to many of these effects. These features of G and the ability to block the effects with antibody, suggest G has substantial potential in vaccine and antiviral drug design.
Plaquing of Herpes Simplex Viruses

There are numerous published protocols for plaquing viruses, including references within primary literature for methodology. However, plaquing viruses can be difficult to perform, requiring focus on its specifications and refinement. It is an incredibly challenging method for new students to master, mainly because it requires meticulous attention to the most minute details. This demonstration of plaquing herpes simplex viruses should help those who have struggled with visualizing the method, especially its nuances, over the years. While this manuscript is based on the same principles of standard plaquing methodology, it differs in that it contains a detailed description of (1) how best to handle host cells to avoid disruption during the process, (2) a more useful viscous medium than agarose to limit the diffusion of virions, and (3) a simple fixation and staining procedure that produces reliably reproducible results. Furthermore, the accompanying video helps demonstrate the finer distinctions in the process, which are frequently missed when instructing others on conducting plaque assays.
Graph databases and how to use them

Graph models tend to be quite large when they are populated with node and edge data describing a real system, community, or process. This data can be stored on a local filesystem and loaded as needed by analysis tools, but eventually the file becomes so large that loading and processing time required makes this impractical. Fortunately there are databases that natively store data as graphs. These are general-purpose graph databases which are able to accommodate arbitrary graph data, unlike specialized graph databases like triplestores. In this chapter, we will look at several graph databases along with some of their core features, their query and path traversal languages, and their administrative and query interfaces. Finally, we will look at some graph database APIs, which enable programmers to write graph-based software applications that can query, traverse, analyze, and manipulate graph data.
Toward the Landau–Lifshitz version of the Thomson electrostatics theorem

Abstract In the classical textbook (Landau and Lifshitz, 1963), Landau and Lifshtz suggested their version of the famous Thomson variational principle (a.k.a Thomson theorem.) So far, their version has not gained the interest it deserves, either among physicists or among applied mathematicians. Partially, the lack of interest can be explained because of the quality of the suggested proof of the principle. It is considerably lower than the standards accepted in classical electrostatics and mathematical physics. Even more importantly, Landau and Lifshitz did not demostrate the minimum property of the electrostatic energy at equilibrium. In this note, we, first, modify and specify the Landau–Lifshitz formulation of the principle presenting it as the isoperimetric variational problem. Then, for this isoperimetric problem we calculate the first and second variations, and we prove that the first variation vanishes, whereas the second variation appears to be positive.
Dictionary learning for compressive parameter mapping in magnetic resonance imaging

Parameter mapping is a valuable quantitative tool for soft tissue contrast. Accelerated data acquisition is critical for clinical utility, which has lead to various novel reconstruction techniques. In this work, a model-based compressed sensing method is extended to include a sparse regularization that is learned from the principal component coefficient. The principal components for a range of T2 decay curves are computed, and the coefficients of the principal components are reconstructed. These coefficient maps share coherent spatial structures, suggesting a patch{based dictionary is a well suited sparse transformation. This transformation is learned from the coefficients themselves. The proposed reconstruction is suited for non-Cartesian, multi-channel data. The dictionary constraint leads to parameter maps with less noise and less aliasing for high amounts of acceleration.
Desmarest's "Determination of Some Epochs of Nature through Volcanic Products" (1775/1779)

In 1775, Nicolas Desmarest (1725-1815) presented an interpretation of geological evidence he had been examining for over a decade, among the extinct volcanoes of Auvergne in south-central France. He interpreted the volcanic remnants in that region in terms of three successive epochs, distinguished from one another by their degree of erosive alteration and the different topographic positions they held following extensive denudation. He insisted on the utility, for the establishment of sequential stages in the region's history, of what he called his 'analytical method' of working backward in time , from recognition of the most recent and therefore least altered products, to reconstruct in the imagination those more thoroughly disturbed and confusing remnants of earlier periods. In addition to being a landmark effort in historical geology based on local observation, Desmarest's paper was also notable as an expression of what would come later to be called uniformitarian thinking: he argued that the erosive processes responsible for wearing down the lavas must have operated gradually and constantly . While Desmarest seems never to have wavered in his view of volcanic action as a subordinate agent in the overall dynamics and history of the globe, he showed awareness that his analysis of the Auvergne lavas pointed toward a considerable role for volcanism during long portions of the province's geological history. The nearest thing to a contemporary publication of Desmarest's 1775 presentation came more than three years later, in the form of an 'excerpt' in the February 1779 issue of the journal Observations sur la physique. An English translation of that excerpt is presented in the present paper for the first time.
Objective documentation and monitoring of human G/sub z/ tolerance

Close correlation between noninvasively recorded changes in blood content of the ear and simultaneous intra-arterial pressures at head level support the validity and utility of more widespread use of noninvasive, online monitoring and recording of circulatory changes at head level for objective measurements of G/sub z/ tolerance when unprotected and during use of anti-G suits alone and in conjunction with various self-protective respiratory and musculature-straining maneuvers. Extensive centrifuge and in-flight experiences during World War II verify that these objective hemodynamic techniques will expedite development and increase safety of high-G/sub z/ testing of improved methods for prevention of acceleration-induced loss of consciousness. The use of circulatory changes at head level to warn of impending loss of vision and/or consciousness for training purposes and as an activating signal for an automatic plane control system in potential ground impact situations is validated. The development of an unobtrusive within-the-ear photoelectric or ultrasound transducer, remotely controlled and received by a self-contained helmet or cockpit mounted system, would enhance pilot acceptability and the practicality of such a system. >
Temperature dependence of the ClONO2 UV absorption spectrum

The temperature dependence of the ClONO2 absorption spectrum has been measured between 220 and 298 K and between 195 and 430 nm using a diode array spectrometer. The absorption cross sections were determined using both: (1) absolute pressure measurements at 296 K and (2) measurements at various temperatures relative to 296 K using a dual absorption cell arrangement. The temperature dependence of the ClONO2 absorption spectrum shows very broad structure. The amplitude of the temperature dependence relative to that at 296 K is weak at short wavelengths, less than 2% at 215 nm and 220 K, but significant at the wavelengths important in the stratosphere, about 30% at 325 nm and 220 K. Our ClONO2 absorption cross section data are in good general agreement with the previous measurements of Molina and Molina (1979).
Heterojunction resonant tunneling diode at the atomic limit

In this work, we present atomically thin resonant tunnel diode, based on vertically stacked heterostructures by combining graphene with layered transition-metal dichalocogenides (TMDs) such as molybdenum disulfide (MoS 2 ), and tungsten diselenide (WSe 2 ). Density functional theory (DFT) coupled with non-equilibrium Green's function (NEGF) transport calculation shows resonant tunnelling in heterolayer TMD and graphene (i.e. MoS 2 -WSe 2 -Gr) system with a prominent negative differential resistance (NDR) characteristic. However, homolayer TMD-graphene stack (i.e. bilayer WSe 2 -Gr) does not show any NDR in its I–V characteristics.
Gene Probe Analysis of Soil Microbial Populations Selected by Amendment with 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic Acid

Soils with a history of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) treatment at field application rates and control soils with no prior exposure to 2,4-D were amended with 2,4-D in the laboratory. Before and during these treatments, the populations of 2,4-D-degrading bacteria were monitored by most-probable-number (MPN) enumeration and hybridization analyses, using probes for the tfd genes of plasmid pJP4, which encode enzymes for 2,4-D degradation. Data obtained by these alternate methods were compared. Several months after the most recent field application of 2,4-D (approximately 1 ppm), soils with a 42-year history of 2,4-D treatment did not have significantly higher numbers of 2,4-D-degrading organisms than did control soils with no prior history of treatment. In response to laboratory amendments with 2,4-D, both the previously treated soils and those with no prior history of exposure exhibited a dramatic increase in the number of 2,4-D-metabolizing organisms. The MPN data indicate a 4- to 5-log population increase after one amendment with 250 ppm of 2,4-D and ultimately a 6- to 7-log increase after four additional amendments, each with 400 ppm of 2,4-D. Similarly, when total bacterial DNA from the soil microbial community of these samples was analyzed by using a probe for the tfdA gene (2,4-D monoxygenase) or the tfdB gene (2,4-dichlorophenol hydroxylase) a dramatic increase in the level of hybridization was observed in both soils.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
A Population-Based Approach for Diversified Protein Loop Structure Sampling

Protein loop structure modeling is regarded as a mini protein folding problem with significant scientific importance. Efficiently sampling the loop conformation space is a key step to computationally obtain accurate loop structure models. Due to the large size of the conformation space and the complication of the scoring functions describing protein energy, it is difficult to obtain broad, diverse coverage of the loop conformations with low energy (score). In this article, we present a new population-based approach to sample the backbone conformations of protein loops. The main advantage of the population-based approaches is that various selection schemes can be applied to enforce the conformations in a population to satisfy certain constraints. In our sampling approach, conformations are generated in the dihedral angles (*** , *** )-space and the Differential Evolution (DE) method is employed to implement dihedral angle crossover for generating new conformations. A diversity selection scheme is applied to achieve diversified sampling. Using a narrowing gap selection scheme, decoys satisfying loop closure condition are obtained by gradually eliminating conformations with large terminal gaps in a population. Our computational results on modeling long loop targets have shown diverse and broad coverage of the loop conformation space, which leads to consistently reaching the native-like decoys in the sampling process.
Mathematical and Computational Modeling: Towards the Development and Application of Nanodevices for Drug Delivery

The sections in this article are Introduction RES Avoidance A Statistical Model of Nanovector Surface Coverage Modeling the Forces Mediating Protein Approach and Binding Tumoral Vasculature and Hemodynamics An Invasion Percolation Model of Vasculogenesis and Hemodynamics Flow Simulations Using Anderson and Chaplain's Model Particle Dynamics within the Tumoral Vasculature Receptor–Ligand-mediated Binding Bell's Deterministic Model A Stochastic Model Intratumoral and Cellular Drug Kinetics and Pharmacodynamics A Two-Dimensional Model of Chemotherapy Refinements of the Model Conclusion
Quantification of Mouse Embryonic Eye Development with Optical Coherence Tomography In Utero

Mouse models are commonly used as research tools to understand regulatory pathways affected by human diseases and disorders. Live imaging tools for visualization of mouse embryonic ocular tissues would be beneficial in research associated with developmental ocular defects. In this study, in utero quantitative assessment of ocular structures in mouse embryos was performed with a swept-source optical coherence tomography (SSOCT). To define developmental changes in eye morphology in live embryos, the volume of the embryonic eye lens and the globe at different embryonic stages ranging from E13.5 to E18.5 was quantified. It is determined that the major axis diameter of the eye lens and the globe was found to increase from 0.44±0.18 mm to 0.98±0.05 mm and from 0.56±0.22 mm to 1.23±0.14 mm, respectively, as the embryo ages from E13.5 to E18.5. For the same stages, the volume of the eye lens and globe was found to increase from 0.028±0.027 mm 3 to 0.32±0.08 mm 3 and from 0.085±0.08 mm 3 to 0.75±0.27 mm 3 , respectively. These results suggest that OCT can accurately assess developmental processes of ocular structures and can be potentially used to assess embryonic ocular growth in mouse mutants with eye abnormalities and to study the effect of toxicological and pharmacological agents.
Conceptual designing: Chaos-based approach

Recent developments in a number of areas including information technology, complexity science, chaos theory, and evolutionary computation converge to suggest ways in which engineering design concepts might be generated. In this paper, a new understanding of this process, called "conceptual designing", is proposed in the context of chaos. The paper distinguishes between traditional and evolutionary designing and claims that the latter one may exhibit chaotic behavior. A general overview of chaos theory is also provided with several examples of chaos in evolutionary designing. Finally, a synthesis of conceptual designing and modern methods of chaos theory is suggested as a major research direction. The paper contains also an overview of initial results and conclusions with suggestions for future research.
Repairable Systems: Renewal and NonRenewal

Repairable systems are systems that can be restored to an operating condition by some repair operation. Models for repairable system are inherently different from models for nonrepairable systems. For nonrepairable systems, it is reasonable to assume that the lifetimes are independent and identically distributed. Models for the reliability of repairable systems must account for the occurrence of events in time. Often, these event times or interevent times are not independent and not identically distributed. This article presents models for repairable systems that account for these factors. Keywords: repairable system; failure time; hazard function; nonrepairable system; power law; Weibull distribution
Charging and coagulation of radioactive and nonradioactive particles in the atmosphere

Abstract. Charging and coagulation influence one another and impact the particle charge and size distributions in the atmosphere. However, few investigations to date have focused on the coagulation kinetics of atmospheric particles accumulating charge. This study presents three approaches to include mutual effects of charging and coagulation on the microphysical evolution of atmospheric particles such as radioactive particles. The first approach employs ion balance, charge balance, and a bivariate population balance model (PBM) to comprehensively calculate both charge accumulation and coagulation rates of particles. The second approach involves a much simpler description of charging, and uses a monovariate PBM and subsequent effects of charge on particle coagulation. The third approach is further simplified assuming that particles instantaneously reach their steady-state charge distributions. It is found that compared to the other two approaches, the first approach can accurately predict time-dependent changes in the size and charge distributions of particles over a wide size range covering from the free molecule to continuum regimes. The other two approaches can reliably predict both charge accumulation and coagulation rates for particles larger than about 0.04 micrometers and atmospherically relevant conditions. These approaches are applied to investigate coagulation kinetics of particles accumulating charge in a radioactive neutralizer, the urban atmosphere, and an atmospheric system containing radioactive particles. Limitations of the approaches are discussed.
Direct measurement of interstitial velocity field variations in a porous medium using fluorescent-particle image velocimetry

Abstract Fluorescent-particle image velocimetry (FPIV) is used in conjunction with refractive-index matching to measure flow velocities in the interstitial regions of a porous medium. Adaptations that allow the use of conventional PIV methodology in index-matched systems are discussed, and the results of flow field measurements in a porous test bed under saturated flow conditions are presented. Preliminary analysis of these data, in which the horizontal and vertical components of the interstitial velocity vectors were averaged over a specified region within the medium, are also presented and compared with the vertical velocity component calculated from the total volumetric flow rate. The magnitude of the macroscopically derived and FPIV-measured values are found to be very similar. In general, our results demonstrate the utility of the FPIV technique to determine both the point velocity and the local volume-averaged velocity within porous media.
The Future of Multistate Regional Commissions

Multistate regional commissions in the United States have been used since 1965. The largest program has been that of the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC). Institutional and financial barriers have been the most difficult problems encountered by the ARC and other programs (such as Title V commissions). Despite the imperfect performance of the existing regional commissions, they offer a demonstration that some improvement in governmental performance can be achieved. There is virtual unanimity among the nation's governors that this is the route for Federal state relations to follow. Also, the commission route is viewed privately as the most socially acceptable means to have a beneficial impact on government performance. (SAC)
Fetal response to carbon dioxide pneumoperitoneum in the pregnant ewe

Objective: To determine the effects of maternal abdominal carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) insufflation on placental blood flow and fetal blood gas measurements in the pregnant ewe. Method: Five time-bred ewes at 110 days' gestation were surgically prepared with maternal and fetal catheters placed for subsequent measurement of vascular pressures, blood gas tensions, and placental blood flows. On surgical recovery day 3, the ewe was anesthetized, placed on her right side, intubated, and manually ventilated to maintain a constant maternal carbon dioxide pressure (PCO 2 ) range (37.1 ± 3.3 mmHg) for the duration of the experiment. The maternal abdomen was inflated with CO 2 to maintain an intraabdominal pressure of 20.7 ± 0.6 mmHg. Maternal and fetal blood flows and blood gases were determined at 30 minutes of ventilation, 60 minutes of insufflation, and 40 minutes of desufflation. Simultaneous maternal and fetal organ blood flows were determined using the radioactive microsphere technique. Results: Maternal perfusion pressure fell 22% ( P = .01) in response to insufflation, whereas pressure in the inferior vena cava rose 53% ( P = .003). Maternal placental blood flow fell to 61% ( P = .002) of control. Seventy-seven percent of this blood-flow change was in response to the decreased perfusion pressure, with 23% resulting from an increased placental vascular resistance of 32% ( P = .02). Maternal blood gas values did not change with insufflation or desufflation. Despite the marked decrease in maternal placental blood flow, the fetal placental perfusion pressure and blood flow, pH, and blood gas tensions were unaffected by insufflation or desufflation. Conclusion: The sheep fetus has sufficient placental flow reserves or compensatory responses to maintain adequate gas exchange during a 1-hour, 20 mmHg maternal pneumoperitoneum. Laparoscopic surgical procedures may prove to be a safe alternative to laparotomy during pregnancy.
Retention of vitamin E and added retinyl palmitate in selected vegetable oils during deep fat frying and in fried breaded products

Changes of natural vitamin E (tocopherols and tocotrienols) and added retinyl palmitate (12.5 μg/g or 250 IU/100 kcal) in soybean oil, corn oil, and palm olein were evaluated during stimulated deep...
Secondary metabolites of the chemically rich ascoglossan Cyerce nigricans

Two new metabolites of an apparent propionate origin have been isolated from the organic extract of the ascoglossan molluscCyerce nigricans. The proposed structures for the new natural products are based on interpretation of their physical and spectral properties. The new compounds isolated lacked the potent ichthyodeterrent properties of the whole animal extract suggesting that other molecules are involved in the defense of this shell-less mollusc.
Analog computer study of wind-tunnel drive

PRIOR to the installation of a large wind-tunnel drive rated 110,000 hp (horsepower) continuously and 132,000 hp for one hour, an analog computer study was made of the drive and its control. Although considerable previous experience had been acquired in the design of this type of drive, two factors made it desirable to examine the system on the computer. One factor is the large power usage of the drive and the length of time involved in acceleration and deceleration at a rate acceptable to the electrical utility. These considerations prohibited excessive tune-up adjustments and testing. The other factor is the transient current in the d-c machine during switching. It was necessary to determine that this current would not exceed circuit-breaker settings.
In whose eyes? Parents’ perspectives on the learning needs of their gifted children

The authors present the findings of a survey completed by 280 families of children identified as gifted by two Midwestern school districts with distinctly different gifted and talented programs. The authors examined: (a) How parents perceive the learning needs of their children who are identified as gifted; (b) How families address their children's perceived needs; and (c) How children's needs were perceived in school districts with different service delivery models. Parents perceived their children's learning needs similarly across districts. Noted differences were the need for higher level content and time to verbalize ideas. Low on the list of needs was to have a special environment, the need to work with adults, and the need to have role models. Based on the results of this study, the authors address issues associated with developing programs to meet the learning needs of gifted students.
Electropharmacology of dofetilide, a new class III agent, in anaesthetised dogs.

Abstract In open chest anaesthetised dogs, dofetilide increased the ventricular effective refractory period over the dose range 1–100 μg/kg i.v. and the ventricular fibrillation threshold at doses between 3–100 μg/kg and was 80–1000 times more potent than sematilide, racemic sotalol, d-sotalol or quinidine. The maximal increases in ventricular fibrillation threshold induced by sematilide and quinidine were less than that induced by the other drugs. A change in the character of the induced arrhythmia from true ventricular fibrillation to a rapid ventricular flutter, with frequent spontaneous conversion, was observed following all drugs. No adverse haemodynamic effects of dofetilide, sematilide or d-sotalol were observed, but quinidine induced marked cardiac depression and racemic sotalol also impaired left ventricular contractility. All drugs reduced heart rate, though the effect of racemic sotalol was clearly greater than that of the other agents. Dofetilide is a potent class III antiarrhythmic agent with antifibrillatory properties and a favourable haemodynamic profile.
A new perspective on the tracking control of nonlinear structural and mechanical systems

Based on recent results from analytical dynamics, this paper develops a class of tracking controllers for controlling general, nonlinear, structural and mechanical systems. Unlike most control methods that perform some kind of linearization and/or nonlinear cancellation, the methodology developed herein views the nonlinear control problem from a different perspective. This leads to a simple and new control methodology that is capable of ‘exactly’ maintaining the nonlinear system along a certain trajectory, which, in general, may be described by a set of differential equations in the observations/measurements. The approach requires very little computation compared with standard approaches. It is therefore useful for online real–time control of nonlinear systems. The methodology is illustrated with two examples.
Tactical Network Integration Test Framework

Mobile Ad-Hoc Networks (MANETs) will play a significant role in future tactical military networks. These tactical networks are required to support military operations and communications on-the-move in an environment characterized by frequent changes in network topology, time varying bandwidth, interference and intermittent link blockage. The self-forming and self-healing nature of MANETs is therefore advantageous in a tactical military network.
Collapse failure in dry clay soils caused by tine implements.

Abstract The relation between forces applied to the soil and the resultant soil reaction was studied in dry clay soils under a quasi-static condition. As a tine advanced in dry compact clay soils at 5.2% dry basis moisture content, masses of soil collapsed one by one in front of the tine. The horizontal and vertical components of soil resistance measured were cyclic and in phase, with distinct peak and trough values. The peak values and trough values indicated the soil stress conditions before and immediately after each failure occurred. The frequency of failure depended on the size of the tine. The magnitude of the peak values depended on level of compaction and trough values on density of collapsed mass. The paper presents the details of observations.
High-repetition-rate time-resolved gas phase electron diffraction

Multiphoton emission and space-charge effects require the generation of electron pulses for ultrafast time-resolved electron diffraction experiments to be performed with low power lasers. Using mode-locked laser sources it is possible to generate a train of electron pulses containing several nanoamperes, while simultaneously minimizing the number of electrons per pulse. Experiments with CCl4 demonstrates that this electron beam current is sufficient to record diffraction patterns from gas phase samples in modecular beams. To observe time dependent structural data one must subtract the diffraction signal obtained when the pump laser is on from that with the pump laser off. This imposes stringent requirements on the system noise and drift. We present a scheme to stabilize the electron current to 0.1%, and discuss a fast-gated detection scheme to subtract diffraction patterns while maintaining single particle counting efficiency.© (1995) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Adding a Visualization Feature to Web Search Engines: It's Time

In the dynamic and interactive world of the Internet, we as a technology community have learned that we can make good Web-based applications better by adding rich visualization and analysis capabilities to control and navigate the applications' user interface. Noteworthy examples include Google Earth which, through visualization, turns hundreds of terabytes of raw satellite images and aero-photographs into actionable information shared with and enjoyed by millions every day. But for every problem the community addresses, plenty more go unrecognized or unexplored. In this article, the author examines a longstanding Web-application problem.
Modulation of nuclear factor-κB activation and decreased markers of neurological injury associated with hypothermic therapy in experimental bacterial meningitis

OBJECTIVE This study was designed to evaluate the use of moderate hypothermia in a model of meningitis-induced brain injury and its effect on the activation of nuclear factor-kappaB, biological markers of neuronal injury, and neurobehavioral performance. DESIGN Randomized, prospective animal study. SETTING University research laboratory. SUBJECTS Male Wistar rats. INTERVENTIONS Animals underwent a basilar cistern tap receiving either sterile saline as a placebo or an equivalent volume of a group B streptococcal suspension. Sixteen hours after inoculation, animals were stratified by their clinical severity score, were randomized to either hypothermic (32-34 degrees C) or normothermic (37-39 degrees C) conditions, and received antibiotics. Hypothermic animals were kept under these temperature conditions for 6 hrs before rewarming. Two protocols were used. For the first protocol, changes in nuclear factor-kappaB activation and heat shock protein induction at 24 hrs and 48 hrs after inoculation were evaluated. In the second protocol, serum C-tau concentrations at 5 days and neurobehavioral performances at 3 wks were assessed. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS Meningitis triggered a >50% increase in cerebral nuclear factor-kappaB activation. The addition of a 6-hr period of hypothermia reduced nuclear factor-kappaB activation by 32% when measured at the end of the hypothermic period. At 48 hrs, this decrease in nuclear factor-kappaB activation was no longer apparent, but there was a significant decrease in the heat shock response. Serum C-tau concentrations at 5 days postinjury, a biomarker of brain injury, were reduced by 69% in hypothermic treated animals. Furthermore, hypothermia reduced the brain water content of infected animals. However, hypothermia did not improve the animals' neurobehavioral performance. CONCLUSION The findings from this study suggest that hypothermia produces a transitory attenuation of nuclear factor-kappaB activation in meningitic brain injury and improvement in some biomarkers of neuronal injury. The consequence of intermittent suppression of nuclear factor-kappaB activation by inducing specific periods of hypothermia requires further study.
Pharmacological activity of 16-and 18-member dibenzodioxatetraaza macroheterocyclic compounds

The spectrum of the biological activities (within the framework of the PASS program) that 16-and 18-member dibenzodioxatetraaza macroheterocyclic compounds might have is assessed. compounds of these classes were found to have anticonvulsant activity. 16-Member macrocyclic compounds could have antiaggregatory activity. These results lead to the conclusion that antiaggregatory and anticonvulsant substances may be found among similar macroheterocyclic compounds.
FRAGMENTATIÓN PROCEDURE FOR BOVINE LONGISSIMUS MUSCLE AS AN INDEX OF COOKED STEAK TENDERNESS

A relatively simple fragmentation procedure using raw bovine muscle has been refined for use in predicting tenderness of broiled loin steaks. Fragmentation measures were obtained on muscle tissue by stirring homogenates through nylon cloth screens of specific pore sizes (250 km, 149 pm, and 88 pm). Raw muscle from “tough” steaks produced higher quantities of muscle fragments greater than 250 pm in size than did “tender” steaks. Fragmentation is best expressed by use of a fragmentation index which accounted for approximately 50% of the observed variation in loin steak tenderness for carcasses of A maturity.
Truth Values, Neither-true-nor-false, and Supervaluations

The first section (§1) of this essay defends reliance on truth values against those who, on nominalistic grounds, would uniformly substitute a truth predicate. I rehearse some practical, Carnapian advantages of working with truth values in logic. In the second section (§2), after introducing the key idea of auxiliary parameters (§2.1), I look at several cases in which logics involve, as part of their semantics, an extra auxiliary parameter to which truth is relativized, a parameter that caters to special kinds of sentences. In many cases, this facility is said to produce truth values for sentences that on the face of it seem neither true nor false. Often enough, in this situation appeal is made to the method of supervaluations, which operate by “quantifying out” auxiliary parameters, and thereby produce something like a truth value. Logics of this kind exhibit striking differences. I first consider the role that Tarski gives to supervaluation in first order logic (§2.2), and then, after an interlude that asks whether neither-true-nor-false is itself a truth value (§2.3), I consider sentences with non-denoting terms (§2.4), vague sentences (§2.5), ambiguous sentences (§2.6), paradoxical sentences (§2.7), and future-tensed sentences in indeterministic tense logic (§2.8). I conclude my survey with a look at alethic modal logic considered as a cousin (§2.9), and finish with a few sentences of “advice to supervaluationists” (2.10), advice that is largely negative. The case for supervaluations as a road to truth is strong only when the auxiliary parameter that is “quantified out” is in fact irrelevant to the sentences of interest—as in Tarski’s definition of truth for classical logic. In all other cases, the best policy when reporting the results of supervaluation is to use only explicit phrases such as “settled true” or “determinately true,” never dropping the qualification.
Regular vibrational state progressions at the dissociation limit of SCCl2.

We observe sharp features in the vibrational spectrum of SCCl2 at and above its two lowest-lying dissociation limits. Highly regular vibrational progressions persist at dissociation, as in some smaller molecules studied previously by others. Nearly all of the SCCl2 transitions studied by stimulated emission pumping can be assigned and fitted by a simple effective Hamiltonian without resonance terms, up to a total vibrational excitation of 36 quanta. The character of the highly excited vibrational wave functions is not normal mode-like, but it nonetheless arises gradually from the normal modes as the energy increases. The number of sharp vibrational features observed matches a scaling model that predicts localization of nearly all vibrational states near dissociation as the size of a polyatomic molecule increases.
J-refocused coherence transfer spectroscopic imaging at 7 T in human brain

Short echo spectroscopy is commonly used to minimize signal modulation due to J-evolution of the cerebral amino acids. However, short echo acquisitions suffer from high sensitivity to macromolecules which make accurate baseline determination difficult. In this report, we describe implementation at 7 T of a double echo J-refocused coherence transfer sequence at echo time (TE) of 34 msec to minimize J-modulation of amino acids while also decreasing interfering macromolecule signals. Simulation of the pulse sequence at 7 T shows excellent resolution of glutamate, glutamine, and N-acetyl aspartate. B(1) sufficiency at 7 T for the double echo acquisition is achieved using a transceiver array with radiofrequency (RF) shimming. Using an alternate RF distribution to minimize receiver phase cancellation in the transceiver, accurate phase determination for the coherence transfer is achieved with rapid single scan calibration. This method is demonstrated in spectroscopic imaging mode with n = 5 healthy volunteers resulting in metabolite values consistent with literature and in a patient with epilepsy.
Technology and institutions: living in a material world

This article addresses the relationship between technology and institutions and asks whether technology itself is an institution. The argument is that social theorists need to attend better to materiality: the world of things and objects of which technical things form an important class. It criticizes the new institutionalism in sociology for its failure to sufficiently open up the black box of technology. Recent work in science and technology studies (S&TS) and in particular the sociology of technology is reviewed as another route into dealing with technology and materiality. The recent ideas in sociology of technology are exemplified with the author's study of the development of the electronic music synthesizer.
Nanoparticle Migration and Delivery of Paclitaxel to Regional Lymph Nodes in a Large Animal Model

Background The aim of this study was to demonstrate feasibility of migration and in situ chemotherapy delivery to regional lymph nodes (LN) in a large animal model using an expansile polymer nanoparticle (eNP) delivery system. Study Design Dual-labeled 50-nm and 100-nm eNP were prepared by encapsulating an IR-813 near-infrared (NIR) fluorescent dye within coumarin-conjugated expansile polymer nanoparticles (NIR-C-eNP). NIR imaging and fluorescent microscopy were used to identify intralymphatic migration of NIR-nanoparticles to draining inguinal or mesenteric LN after injection in swine hind legs or intestine. Nanoparticle-mediated intranodal delivery of chemotherapy was subsequently assessed with Oregon Green paclitaxel-loaded NIR-eNP (NIR-OGpax-eNP). Results NIR imaging demonstrated direct lymphatic migration of 50-nm, but not 100-nm, NIR-C-eNP and NIR-OGpax-eNP to the draining regional LNs after intradermal injection in the hind leg or subserosal injection in intestine. Fluorescent microscopy demonstrated that IR-813 used for NIR real-time trafficking colocalized with both the coumarin-labeled polymer and paclitaxel chemotherapy and was identified within the subcapsular spaces of the draining LNs. These studies verify nodal migration of both nanoparticle and encapsulated payload, and confirm the feasibility of focusing chemotherapy delivery directly to regional nodes. Conclusions Regionally-targeted intranodal chemotherapy can be delivered to draining LNs for both skin and solid organs using 50-nm paclitaxel-loaded eNP.
Collimation of dense plasma jets created by low-energy laser pulses and studied with soft x-ray laser interferometry.

The physical mechanisms driving the collimation of dense plasma jets created by low-energy $(\ensuremath{\sim}0.6\text{ }\text{J})$ laser pulse irradiation of triangular grooves were studied for different target materials using soft-x-ray interferometry and hydrodynamic code simulations. The degree of collimation of jets created by irradiating C, Al, Cu, and Mo targets at intensities of $I=1\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{12}\text{ }\text{W}\text{ }{\text{cm}}^{\ensuremath{-}2}$ with 120 ps laser pulses was observed to increase significantly with the atomic number. Radiation cooling is found to be the cause of the increased collimation, while the main effect of the increase in mass is to slow the jet evolution.
Patterns of product inhibition for bacterial nitrite reductase

Product inhibition has been examined in the turnover kinetics of cytochrome cd 1 from Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC 19429) and from Paracoccus denitrificans (ATCC 13456). A common characteristic was a decrease in rate during the time course of assays that was not due to substrate depletion or irreversible inactivation. The product of nitrite reduction, nitric oxide (NO), acted as a product inhibitor in anaerobic assays with an apparent K i of 0.2 μM, but only if the enzyme was first preincubated with NO for 15 min. The enzyme was inhibited by the oxidized form of electron donors and this could account for the decrease in rate during an assay. For the donors hydroquinone, ascorbate, TMPD, and azurin, measured values of the inhibition constant were at least ten fold lower than measured K m 's. Cytochromes c as donors demonstrated a complex pattern of product inhibition by the ferric form. Although numerical values of K i in these cases were not obtained, trends indicated that apparent values would be less than K m .
Radiation-sensitizing chemotherapy after transurethral resection as an alternative treatment for high-risk T1 bladder cancer.

Radiation-sensitizing chemotherapy after transurethral resection as an alternative treatment for high-risk T1 bladder cancer