cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Application of a Differential Drag Controller to a Full System Simulation

Differential drag control presents an opportunity to control satellites without the use of a fuel-based propulsion system. The relative state of a pair or formation of satellites can be controlled via relative accelerations provided by a differential drag force. The drag acceleration of each vehicle can be altered by changing the area of the vehicle in the direction of motion. In research to date, differential drag controllers have been considered separately from state estimation systems that will be used for orbit determination. This paper examines an integrated system that combines a state estimator with a differential drag controller. A Kalman filter is used to estimate position and velocity elements with realistic levels of measurement noise, as well as measurement biases and atmospheric density. A differential drag controller based on the Hill-Clohessy-Wiltshire equations is presented that takes estimates from the Kalman filter and determines the appropriate control behavior. Modifications are made to the controller to reduce unnecessary actuations due to relative state error. The integrated system is tested with a nonlinear propagation model including the effects of J 2, dynamic modeling errors, and an altitude-varying atmosphere to determine the controller performance in a realistic mission environment.
Changes in theoretical ecospace utilization in marine fossil assemblages between the mid-Paleozoic and late Cenozoic

We present a new three-dimensional theoretical ecospace for the ecological classification of marine animals based on vertical tiering, motility level, and feeding mechanism. In this context, analyses of a database of level-bottom fossil assemblages with abundance counts demonstrate fundamental changes in marine animal ecosystems between the mid-Paleozoic (461–359 Ma) and late Cenozoic (23–0.01 Ma). The average local relative abundance of infaunal burrowers, facultatively motile animals, and predators increased, whereas surface dwellers and completely non-motile animals decreased in abundance. Considering tiering, motility, and feeding together, more modes of life had high to moderate average relative abundance in the Cenozoic than in the Paleozoic. These results are robust to the biasing effects of aragonite dissolution in Paleozoic sediments and to heterogeneities in the latitudinal and environmental distributions of collections. Theoretical ecospace provides a unified system for future analyses of the utilization of ecologic opportunities by marine metazoa.
Relationships of work stress measures for employees with the same job.

Abstract Most research on job stress is based on the assumption that correlations between perceived work environment and affective measures reflect a relationship between the objective work environment and affective measures. Correlations found among perceived stress measures were similar in magnitude to those found in other work stress studies that had greater variation in the subject sample and jobs. Also, no relationship was found between objective and perceived danger. Alternative explanations for perceived job stress relationships are discussed.
Experimental Investigation of Flat-Plate Oscillating Heat Pipe for Thermal Spreading Applications

The thermal performance of a flat-plate oscillating heat pipe (FP-OHP) operating as a heat spreader – a non-traditional heating/cooling configuration for any FP-OHP - was experimentally investigated. The copper FP-OHP had overall dimensions of 101.6 x 101.6 x 3.18 mm 3 , possessed two layers of 1.02 x 1.02 mm² microchannels and was filled with acetone to a filling ratio of approximately 80%. One side of the FP-OHP was centrally heated with a 9 cm² square heat source and the other side was firmly attached to the base of a copper pin fin heat sink which was uniformly cooled with cross-flowing air at speeds of either: 1 m/s, 2 m/s, and 3 m/s within a wind tunnel. The maximum surface temperature of the FP-OHP – as well as that of an identically-sized piece of copper (with same heat sink attached) – was measured for various heat fluxes and air speeds. Relative to pure copper, the FP-OHP was capable of providing for a 10-15 % reduction in total thermal resistance, depending on air speed and heat input. At the maximum heat input of 230 W, the maximum FP-OHP surface temperature did not exceed 100 oC at an air speed of 3 m/s. Since the maximum surface temperature oscillated with time for all air speeds investigated, this indicates the successful operation of the FP-OHP within the thermal spreading configuration. However, a critical heat input, which varied with air speed, is required to initiate the FP-OHP for the accompanying thermal enhancement. Although the FP-OHP can help to enhance heat transfer, the improvement was not significant indicating that the heating mode directly affects the heat transfer performance of a FP-OHP heat spreader.
Neuroprotective effects of blockers for T-type calcium channels

Cognitive and functional decline with age is correlated with deregulation of intracellular calcium, which can lead to neuronal death in the brain. Previous studies have found protective effects of various calcium channel blockers in pathological conditions. However, little has been done to explore possible protective effects of blockers for T-type calcium channels, which forms a family of FDA approved anti-epileptic drugs. In this study, we found that neurons showed an increase in viability after treatment with either L-type or T-type calcium channel antagonists. The family of low-voltage activated, or T-type calcium channels, comprise of three members (Cav3.1, Cav3.2, and Cav3.3) based on their respective main pore-forming alpha subunits: α1G, α1H, and α1I. Among these three subunits, α1H is highly expressed in hippocampus and certain cortical regions. However, T-type calcium channel blockers can protect neurons derived from α1H-/- mice, suggesting that neuroprotection demonstrated by these drugs is not through the α1H subunit. In addition, blockers for T-type calcium channels were not able to confer any protection to neurons in long-term cultures, while blockers of L-type calcium channels could protect neurons. These data indicate a new function of blockers for T-type calcium channels, and also suggest different mechanisms to regulate neuronal survival by calcium signaling pathways. Thus, our findings have important implications in the development of new treatment for age-related neurodegenerative disorders.
Near-Annual Fish Kills in Small Embayments: Casual vs. Causal Factors

Abstract Fish kills are reported throughout the nation and a great deal of research is conducted in an attempt to determine the cause of these mortality events. Low dissolved oxygen concentrations, eutrophication, and/or harmful algal blooms are most commonly cited as causative factors. Lake Madeline and Offatt's Bayou on Texas' upper coast have low mixing environments due to their relatively small areal size, deep basins, small tidal inlets, and restricted exchange with the nearby Galveston Bay estuary complex. These physical attributes, along with near annual fish kills, make them an ideal study area for understanding the causes and effects of hypoxia and phytoplankton blooms on fish kills. We measured physical, chemical, and biological parameters twice weekly over the course of two summers. Fortuitously, a fish kill occurred in the summer of 2005 but not in 2006, which allowed us to narrow down the likely contributing factors that led to the kill, consisting of >10,000 Brevoortia partonus (Gulf menhade...
Application of the Goes double-skin peri-areolar mastopexy with and without implants: A 14-year experience

Peri-areolar mastopexy is commonly used for mild ptosis requiring no more than 3cm of nipple elevation. The nature of areolar scar and gland remodelling inherent to a circular skin reduction prompts circumspection when correcting more moderate-to-severe cases. The purpose herein is to convey the reproducibility and applicability of the Goes double-skin peri-areolar mastopexy without mesh, for breast ptosis requiring nipple elevation of 4-9cm, in a series outside the work of the principal innovator. A series of 217 consecutive patients underwent circumareolar eccentric skin excision based on four cardinal landmarks, deepithelialised dermal sleeve and glandular reshaping with and without implants (174 augmentation-mastopexies and 43 mastopexies). Implantation and implant change involved the use of saline implants placed in the subpectoral space. Average nipple elevation was 5.1cm in the augmentation-mastopexy group and 6.5cm in the mastopexy group. There were major complications in 4.4% of breasts and occurred only in the mastopexy-augmentation group. There was no nipple loss, serious infection or haematoma. There were minor complications in 13.1% of breasts (11.8% in the mastopexy-augmentation group, and 18.6% in the mastopexy group). A minimal (10%) areolar necrosis occurred on a breast in one patient undergoing augmentation-mastopexy for tubular breasts with micromastia. Revision rate was 4% for the entire series. Based on the principles of circular skin design with fixed skin landmarks, internal breast shaping and special attention when augmentation is done simultaneously, the peri-areolar double-skin mastopexy can be safe, effective and reproducible when applied to cases of increasing complexity.
The economics of fuel management: Wildfire, invasive plants, and the dynamics of sagebrush rangelands in the western United States

In this article we develop a simulation model to evaluate the economic efficiency of fuel treatments and apply it to two sagebrush ecosystems in the Great Basin of the western United States: the Wyoming Sagebrush Steppe and Mountain Big Sagebrush ecosystems. These ecosystems face the two most prominent concerns in sagebrush ecosystems relative to wildfire: annual grass invasion and native conifer expansion. Our model simulates long-run wildfire suppression costs with and without fuel treatments explicitly incorporating ecological dynamics, stochastic wildfire, uncertain fuel treatment success, and ecological thresholds. Our results indicate that, on the basis of wildfire suppression costs savings, fuel treatment is economically efficient only when the two ecosystems are in relatively good ecological health. We also investigate how shorter wildfire-return intervals, improved treatment success rates, and uncertainty about the location of thresholds between ecological states influence the economic efficiency of fuel treatments.
MODE OF ATTACK OF HYDRIODIC ACID ON UNSATURATED GLYCERYL ETHERS.

The mode of action of hydriodic acid (HI) on a sample rich in selachyl alcohol [1-O-9(cis)-octadecenyl glycerol] has been studied. HI attacked the olefinic bonds as well as the ether bonds, with the formation of at least two diiodides as well as the expected primary iodide. Subsequent conversion of these iodides to the acetates yielded a mixture of saturated diacetates and monounsaturated monoacetates. The unsaturated acetates consisted of a mixture of positional isomers and showed the presence of a trans double bond. On the basis of these results it was concluded that HI can attack on either side of the double bond, with the resultant formation of isomeric products in the subsequent dehydrohalogenation reaction. A reaction scheme for formation of these products is presented. The use of HI in studies of the structure of unsaturated glyceryl ethers is not recommended.
Properties of Young Stellar Objects from High Resolution Near Infrared Spectroscopy

We analyze high resolution (R=50,000) spectra at 2.2 μm of 10 Class II young stellar objects in the p Ophiuchi dark cloud. We measure effective temperatures, continuum veiling, and v sin i rotation from the shapes and strengths of atomic photospheric lines by comparing to spectral synthesis models at 2.2 μm. We measure surface gravities in 2 stars from the integrated line flux ratio of the 12CO line region at 2.3μm and the Na I line region at 2.2 μm. Although the majority (8/10) of the Class II stars have similare ective temperatures (3530 K±100 K), they exhibit a large spread in bolometric luminosities (factor ∼8), as derived from near-IR photometry. In the two stars where we have surface gravity measurements from spectroscopy, the photometrically derived luminosities are systematically higher than the spectroscopic luminosities. The spread in the photometrically derived luminosities in our other sources suggests either a large spread in stellar ages, or nonphotospheric emission in the J-band since anomalous and significant veiling at J has been observed in other T Tauri stars. Our spectroscopic luminosities result in older ages on the H-R diagram than is suggested by photometry at J or K. Most of our sources show a larger amount of continuum excess (FKex) than stellar flux at 2.2 μm (FK*), substantially higher in many cases (rK≡FKex/FK*=0.3−4.5). The derived v sin i rotation is substantial, but systematically less than the rotation measured in class I.5 (flat) and Class I sources from other studies in Ophiuchus.
A mouse model of galactose-induced cataracts

Galactokinase (GK; EC 2.7.1.6) is the first enzyme in the metabolism of galactose. In humans, GK deficiency results in congenital cataracts due to an accumulation of galactitol within the lens. In an attempt to make a galactosemic animal model, we cloned the mouse GK gene (Glk1) and disrupted it by gene targeting. As expected, galactose was very poorly metabolized in GK-deficient mice. In addition, both galactose and galactitol accumulated in tissues of GK-deficient mice. Surprisingly, the GK-deficient animals did not form cataracts even when fed a high galactose diet. However, the introduction of a human aldose reductase transgene into a GK-deficient background resulted in cataract formation within the first postnatal day. This mouse represents the first mouse model for congenital galactosemic cataract.
Effects of plasma-etching-induced gate oxide degradation on MOSFET's 1/f noise

Plasma etching degrades the gate oxide in scaled down MOS transistors and therefore affects the device low frequency noise behavior. The effects of plasma etching induced gate oxide damage on MOSFETs 1/f noise have been studied on devices fabricated with different field plate perimeter to gate area ratio antennas on various metal levels. The correlation between plasma etching induced gate oxide damage and device 1/f noise has been observed. The plasma etching introduces oxide trap centers near Si/SiO2 interface, which give rise to an abnormal shoulder in device 1/f noise spectrum. This is confirmed by reproducing the abnormal noise spectrum on device which initially received less damage during plasma processing by means of performing Fowler-Nordheim stress and forming gas annealing. The correlation between hot-carrier injection degradation and device abnormal 1/f noise was also observed, implying that plasma etching causes abnormal 1/f noise. The physical properties of the traps were studied by the gate bias and temperature dependence of the device 1/f noise.© (1994) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
CMOS interface circuits for reading and writing memristor crossbar array

This paper describes CMOS interface circuits in 350nm 3.3V/5.0V TSMC process for memristor crossbar array. These circuits are applicable for non-volatile resistive memories. The architecture is targeted for low power and high speed applications. We have demonstrated sense amplifiers for reading the state of a memristor bit. Voltage divider and transimpedence amplifier is used for DC sensing while sigma delta approach is used for averaging. Current limiting write amplifier has also been designed for increasing the device endurance and reliability. Half select array architecture is used to minimize dc leakage current in the crossbar array.
Direct Atomic Force Microscopic Determination of Surface Charge at the Gold/Electrolyte InterfaceThe Inadequacy of Classical GCS Theory in Describing the Double-Layer Charge Distribution

The surface charge at the interface of a Au electrode with a KClO4 solution was measured by in situ atomic force microscopy (AFM) using a modified cantilever with a charged SiO2 sphere. The effective charge determined by treating the AFM force curve was much smaller than that injected electrochemically, with the ratio of the effective/real surface charge to the electrochemical charge being below 10%. This large difference suggests that classical Gouy−Chapman−Stern (GCS) theory is inadequate to describe the diffuse electrical double layer. Ion correlation and ion condensation effects might account for the reduced surface charge. Additional experiments on the effect of electrolytes containing divalent species [Ca(NO3)2 and Na2SO4] and the effect of adsorption of sodium dodecyl sulfate on the Au electrode provide additional evidence for such effects.
Jordan-Algebraic Aspects of Nonconvex Optimization over Symmetric Cones ∗

We illustrate the usefulness of Jordan-algebraic techniques for nonconvex optimization by considering a potential-reduction algorithm for a nonconvex quadratic function over the domain obtained as the intersection of a symmetric cone with an affine subspace.
Development of a fluorescence-based fiber optic sensor for rapid detection of general anesthetics and other lipid-soluble chemicals

A method is demonstrated of fabricating sensors for the detection of general anesthetics and other lipid-soluble chemicals. Some lipid-soluble fluorescent dyes are sensitive to changes in order of lipid bilayers that depend on temperature. These dyes can also be used to monitor perturbation of the bilayer that occurs when anesthetics are partitioned between its two components. The sensor employs as a reversible indicator a hydrogel entrapping liposomes that contain a hydrophobic fluorescent dye. The gel is immobilized at the end of two optical fibers, one of which transfers exciting radiation from a remote lamp, and the other of which returns the fluorescence to a remote compact spectrometer coupled to a photodiode array detector. As the fluorescence emission spectrum of the dye employed shifts to longer wavelength upon fluidization of the lipid bilayers, an absolute determination of fluidity can be made by monitoring the ratio of emission intensity at two wavelengths. The sensor is sensitive to clinically relevant concentrations of a commonly used general anesthetic, and preliminary studies on the transducing liposome system indicate that it should be sensitive to all other general anesthetics, including alcohols. >
Distributed binary detection with different local hypotheses

The authors consider a generalized distributed binary hypothesis-testing problem with a hierarchical team. In this problem, the subordinate decision-makers (DMs) transmit their opinions on their own local hypotheses, which are only probabilistically related to the global hypotheses at the primary DM. It is shown that the normative decision strategies of all DMs are coupled likelihood-ratio tests, but the decision thresholds are also a function of the joint probability distribution of hypotheses at all DMs. To assess the discrimination capabilities of a team, the authors introduce the concept of a team relative (receiver) operating characteristic curve. The concept was tested on teams of humans using a hypothetical medical diagnosis task. Potential human biases leading to discrepancies between the normative predictions and experimental results were identified. These form the basis for a normative-descriptive model currently under development. >
Fetal DNA methylation of autism spectrum disorders candidate genes: association with spontaneous preterm birth.

Objective Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is associated with preterm birth (PTB), although the reason underlying this relationship is still unclear. Our objective was to examine DNA methylation patterns of 4 ASD candidate genes in human fetal membranes from spontaneous PTB and uncomplicated term birth. Study Design A literature search for genes that have been implicated in ASD yielded 14 candidate genes ( OXTR , SHANK3 , BCL2 , RORA , EN2 , RELN , MECP2, AUTS2, NLGN3, NRXN1, SLC6A4, UBE3A, GABA, AFF2 ) that were epigenetically modified in relation to ASD. DNA methylation in fetal leukocyte DNA in 4 of these genes ( OXTR , SHANK3 , BCL2 , and RORA ) was associated with PTB in a previous study. This study evaluated DNA methylation, transcription (reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction), and translation patterns (immunostaining and Western blot) in fetal membrane from term labor (n = 14), term not in labor (TNIL; n = 29), and spontaneous preterm birth (PTB; n = 27). Statistical analysis was performed with analysis of variance; a probability value of Results Higher methylation of the OXTR promoter was seen in fetal membranes from PTB, compared with term labor or TNIL. No other gene showed any methylation differences among groups. Expression of OXTR was not different among groups, but the 70 kDa OXTR protein was seen only in PTB, and immunostaining was more intense in PTB amniocytes than term labor or TNIL. Conclusion Among the 4 genes that were studied, fetal membranes from PTB demonstrate differences in OXTR methylation and regulation and expression, which suggest that epigenetic alteration of this gene in fetal membrane may likely be indicating an in utero programing of this gene and serve as a surrogate in a subset of PTB. The usefulness of OXTR hypermethylation as a surrogate for a link to ASD should be further evaluated in longitudinal and in vitro studies.
Streptavidin-based containment systems for genetically engineered microorganisms

The use of genetically modified microorganisms for environmental remediation continues to be debated. Conditional lethal systems with tightly regulated gene expression can be used to contain released microorganisms and ameliorate some of the concerns about horizontal gene transfer. We have described streptavidin-based suicide systems to address these concerns and evaluated their function in Pseudomonas putida containing the TOL plasmid for aromatic hydrocarbon metabolism. Tight regulation of expression of a truncated streptavidin gene was required to avoid premature production of the toxic protein. Streptavidin expression was induced by the absence of 3-methyl benzoate (hydrocarbon substrate) which resulted in the elimination of 99.9% of the bacterial culture within eight hours. Low mutant escape rates at 10(-7) per cell per generation were also realized.
On privacy and security in distributed visual sensor networks

There is a critical need to provide privacy assurances for distributed vision-based sensor networking in applications such as building surveillance and healthcare monitoring. To effectively address protection and reliability issues, secure networking and processing must be considered from system inception. This paper presents attacks that affect the data privacy in visual sensor networks and proposes privacy-promoting security solutions based on opponent detection via game-theoretic analysis and keyless encryption.
Overlooked, Ignored, and Forgotten Older Women at Risk for HIV Infection and AIDS

This article explores the experience of mature women in the HIV/AIDS epidemic,especially in terms of their vulnerability to infection and lack of AIDS-relatedknowledge. Demographic trends illustrate the increase of AIDS diagnoses amongmidlife women and women of color. The proportion of adolescent and adult femalecases among women age 50 and older has been 9% to 10% since 1989. However, theproportion of those mature women who are age 65 and older when diagnosed hasdeclined from 36% in 1989 to 20% in 1997. Lack of accurate knowledge amongwomen in older cohorts is shown with data from the 1994 National Health InterviewSurvey. Increased age is related to not having accurate information, including knowledge necessary to protect oneself from high-risk behavior such as the effectivenessof condoms or that someone with AIDS can look well and healthy. Finally, researchrecommendations are made along with the suggestion to employ a life-courseperspective when developing education, intervention, and treatment programs...
The Leadership Challenge of Overcoming the Scourge of Racism: The Coping and Mitigative Strategies Used by Leaders

Race is not a leadership challenge in culturally monolithic societies. In the United States, Caucasian leaders do not have to deal with the challenge as much as their African American counterparts. Society seems to accept their role as leaders more readily than they accept Black, Hispanic, Asian or other minority leaders. Leaders from these groups have to deal with an added challenge of coping with racism. This paper focuses on this challenge of racism, especially among African American Leaders, and examines how successful African American leaders cope or mitigate this challenge, while seeking to be effective in their leadership roles. Depersonalization of self and migrating to a group conceptualization is a common strategy that African American and minority leaders use effectively, but it can be tiring in the long run, especially if the leader wants to be at peace with his or her conscience.
Omalizumab inhibits human mast cell responses by sequestering pre-bound IgE (64.6)

Mast cells are key effectors of allergic inflammation. IgE-mediated mast cell activation induces degranulation and inflammatory mediator release. Omalizumab (Xolair; Genentech Inc.) is a recombinant humanized monoclonal anti-IgE antibody that prevents IgE binding to its receptor, FcϵRI. Objective: We investigated the effects of omalizumab on IgE pre-sensitized human LAD2 mast cells. Methods: LAD2 degranulation was determined by β-hexosaminidase assay. Chemokine expression and prostaglandin synthesis was measured by quantitative PCR analysis and ELISA, respectively. IgE binding and FcϵRI expression was determined by flow cytometry. Results: Omalizumab pretreatment inhibited IgE binding to LAD2 cells and entirely prevented IgE-dependent upregulation of FcϵRI expression. In addition, omalizumab removed FcϵRI-prebound IgE as early as 24 hrs after treatment. After 5 days, bound IgE was reduced by 92%. Furthermore, omalizumab concomitantly reversed IgE-dependent FcϵRI upregulation by 49% 48 hrs post treatment and by 93% 5 days post treatment. Consequently, omalizumab attenuated ongoing IgE-mediated responses, reducing degranulation by 34%, chemokine expression up to 79% and prostaglandin synthesis by 34% after 7 days of omalizumab treatment. Conclusions: Omalizumab is able to remove pre-bound IgE from sensitized mast cells thereby reducing ongoing response to FcϵRI-dependent signals. This data suggests that omalizumab is an effective inhibitor of sensitized human mast cells.
Potential Uses and Abuses of Toxic Release Inventory Data

The Emergency Planning and Community Right-To-Know Act (Title III) of the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA) was designed to provide communities with information about many hazardous substances stored, transported, or released in their local environments. The toxic chemical release reporting section (Section 313 of the Act) is the focus of this paper. Under Section 313, certain businesses must report annually on their total aggregate releases of toxic chemicals to air, water, and land. These aggregate data are referred to as the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI). In the first years of reporting, there will be some initial difficulties in understanding and using the TRI data. Because the reporting is new, the release data are expected to be limited in type and quality. The TRI data will be useful for conducting screening level comparisons, planning, and priority setting activities. Temporal or spatial comparisons can be made between TRI emissions and other emissions data, standards or permits. TRI data can be a component for consideration in land use planning. Risk screening of TRI data can help to set priorities for follow-up data collection, and analyses must not imply greater accuracy or certainty than is permitted by the limitations in the data. Quantitative risk assessment, epidemiologic studies which establish causal links to health clusters, and definitive answers to health questions will require additional data.
Ligand bond energies in cis- and trans-[L-Pd(PH3)2Cl]+ complexes from coupled cluster theory (CCSD(T)) and density functional theory.

The Pd–L ligand bond dissociation energies (BDEs) of cis- and trans-[L-Pd(PH3)2Cl]+ were predicted using coupled cluster CCSD(T) theory and a variety of density functional theory (DFT) functionals at the B3LYP optimized geometries. trans-[L-Pd(PH3)2Cl]+ is the more stable isomer when Pd forms a donor–acceptor bond with a C atom of the ligand, including the π-bond in norbornene; for the remaining complexes, the cis-[L-Pd(PH3)2Cl]+ isomer is substantially lower in energy. For cis-[L-Pd (PH3)2Cl]+ complexes, the Pd-L bond energies are 28 kcal/mol for CO; ∼40 kcal/mol for AH3 (A = N, P, As, and Sb), norbornene, and CH3CN; and ∼53 kcal/mol for CH3NC, pyrazole, pyridine, and tetrahydrothiophene at the CCSD(T) level. When Pd forms a donor–acceptor bond with the C atom in the ligand (i.e., CO, CH3NC, and the π-bond in norbornene), the Pd-L bond energies for trans-[L-Pd(PH3)2Cl]+ are generally ∼10 kcal/mol greater than those for cis-[L-Pd(PH3)2Cl]+ with the same L; for the remaining ligands, the ligand bond energy...
Advertising and Social Values

This article was written independently of the one preceding, by Colston E. Warne. The point that authors Petit and Zakon are making is that advertising is a bulwark rather than a threat to our exis...
RABENHORST AND FUNGUS EXSICCATI

of the Botanical Garden of Transylvania University (p. 15). It is deplorable to see that E. D, Merrill in his zeal for finding unrecorded Rafinesquian binomials has multiplied even further the productions of this author by attributing new combinations to him for every species Rafinesque mentioned under "Pentostemon". Rafinesque himself clearly stated that Pentostemon was an orthographic correction of Pentstemon. In Index Rafinesquianus (p. 218. 1949) Merrill also attributed "Penlemon" to Rafinesque as a formal name, although this must be a sphalm.
Is Microtubule Rigidity Proportional to Protofilament Number

Microtubules are cytoskeletal filaments that participate in key cellular processes by providing structural support, intracellular transportation, and cell division. Despite having been measured for the past 20 years, there are still open questions regarding the mechanical stiffness of microtubules and their persistence length, Lp. The persistence length is a measure of stiffness, proportional to the flexural rigidity, EI, defined as the elastic modulus and the second moment of area. In vitro, GMPCPP (a slowly hydrolyzable form of GTP) microtubules produce 14 protofilaments, taxol-stabilized microtubules produce 12-13 protofilaments, and microtubules polymerized in high-sodium (580 mM NaCl) concentration produce 9-10 protofilaments and lattice shifts resulting in numerous “seams.”Persistence lengths of single microtubule filaments were measured. Microtubules were formed in respective buffers and stabilized with the chemotherapeutic drug Taxol. After formation, microtubules were confined to oscillate within a thin, 2-D chamber (≤ 3 μm). Fourier mode analysis was used to fit images of fluorescently labeled microtubules. From each individual fit, a respective persistence length was determined. Bootstrapping statistics was then applied to produce a more accurate measure of filament rigidity. Our prior measurements for GMPCPP microtubules have lognormal distributions with average Lp of 1.8 ± 0.5 mm and 1.9 ± 0.7 mm (with taxol) respectively. Similarly, Taxol stabilized microtubules have a lognormal distribution but with a smaller Lp of 0.65 ± 0.1 mm. Preliminary results show high-sodium polymerized microtubules with an Lp of 0.67 ± 0.1 mm.
Further discussion on "low carbon economy" and electrical industry

In this paper,the following are explained:the historical background of the low-carbon economy,the basic concept;current profiles of emission reduction of CO2 greenhouse gas and governance objectives;profiles of the pollutant emissions of thermal power;the strategy and major measures reply to low carbon economy that adopted by electrical industry.Analyze enunciation:Inside the short period,in the new energy and can the renewable energy can not also replace the circumstance of fossil energy under,adjust energy structure,devote major efforts development act for energy technique and carbon succeed in catching and store(CCS)a technique and actively develop hot,electricity(is cold)allied produce,distribute type energy and change into more uniting of the core to produce a technique by the clean coal and the coal gas,is China should to environment depravation with reduce to line up pressure,and come out to match Chinese state of the nation efficiently,green,the inevitable choice of the road of the development of low carbon.
Single potassium channels recorded from vascular smooth muscle cells.

Single-channel activities were recorded from smooth muscle cells of vascular fragments isolated from rat pancreas. Three K-selective channel types were identified and characterized from cell-attach...
Regional Comparisons of HIV and AIDS in Risk Groups

The goal of this chapter is to use the computer simulation model developed in Chapter 7 to analyze HIV transmission and AIDS in risk groups in the four major regions of the United States shown in Figure 10.1. Each region is divided into three to five subregions based on similarities and differences in AIDS incidences in parts of the region. Whenever there are no significant differences in the time trends in AIDS incidences between racial/ethnic (r/e) groups or subregions, AIDS cases in the groups or subregions are aggregated. Thus the first step in each region is to aggregate into as few subpopulations as possible. Aggregation simplifies the simulation process since it leads to fewer populations to fit. Of course, the HIV and AIDS incidences in the groups or subregions which were aggregated could be recovered at any time by using the fraction of cases which occurred in these groups or subregions.
Effects of Estrogen, Nitric Oxide, and Dopamine on Behavioral Locomotor Activities in the Embryonic Zebrafish: A Pharmacological Study

Nitric oxide (NO) has been shown to affect motor function. Specifically, NO has been shown to act through regulation of dopamine (DA) release, transporter function, and the elicitation of neuroprotection/neurodegeneration of neurons. Recently, zebrafish have been proposed to be a new model for the study of various types of motor dysfunctions, since neurotoxin damage to their nigrostriatal-like neurons exhibit motor anomalies similar to those of mammalian models and human patients. Results from this study demonstrate that when NO synthesis is inhibited in zebrafish, using a neuronal NO synthase inhibitor (nNOSI), a condition called 'listless' occurs, where the fish lack swimming abilities, are rigid, and have difficulty maintaining balance. Additionally, co-treatment with either NO or estrogen (E2), an upstream regulator of NO synthase, can rescue fish from the 'listless' phenotype caused by exposure to the neurotoxin 6-hydroxydopamine (6 OHDA). In turn, NO deprived zebrafish were rescued from the 'listless' phenotype when co-treated with L-DOPA, a precursor to DA. Interestingly, the longer fish are exposed to a 6 OHDA + nNOSI co-treatment, the slower the recovery after washout, compared to a single treatment of each. Most significantly, NO involvement in the motor homeostasis of the embryonic zebrafish was shown to be expressed through the NO-cGMP-dependent pathway, and response to nNOSI treatments is developmentally regulated. In conclusion, these results indicate that there is a link between E2, NO, and DA systems that regulate motor functions in the embryonic zebrafish.
Multidimensional signal processing and modeling with neural networks in metal machining: Cutting forces, vibrations, and surface roughness

Neural networks are a soft computing technique with wide application in signal processing as well as system and process modeling. In the present study, multilayer perceptron (MLP) neural networks were employed to process multidimensional signals generated in metal machining operations (including three-dimensional cutting force signals and three-dimensional cutting vibration signals) and to establish a model for predicting the machined surface roughness. This paper describes in detail our methods of multidimensional signal processing and modeling with MLP neural networks. The MLP neural network model developed in the present study fills an important research gap by taking into account the critical effect of tool-edge radius in machining. As compared to regression models, the MLP neural network model developed in the present study has significantly higher accuracy in predicting the machined surface roughness.
Social Media Use and Preferences in Patients With Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

Introduction There has been growing interest in social media use in managing chronic illnesses. The aim of this study was to assess social media usage in a large sample of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Methods We performed a cross-sectional study within the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation's IBD Partners' internet-based cohort. We used bivariate analyses to compare patient characteristics by various factors associated with social media utilization. We used logistic regression models to determine factors independently associated with using social media to obtain IBD-related information. Results A total of 1960 IBD patients were included. Most respondents reported spending between 30 and 60 minutes on social media sites per day. Thirty-two percent of respondents agreed that social media could be useful for disease management. Most respondents agreed that social media should be used to connect patients with IBD-related organizations and to obtain IBD-related information online. Fifty percent of respondents could not rate the quality of IBD information posted online. Concerns surrounding social media use included privacy/confidentiality and lack of trust of information posted. The most frequently used social media website was Facebook. Thirty-two percent of respondents used social media at least once in the last week to obtain or post IBD-related content. Factors independently associated with social media use for IBD included female gender (odds ratio [OR] 1.43; 95% CI,1.10-1.87), age (OR 0.99; 95% CI, 0.98-1.00), remission (OR 0.63; 95% CI, 0.50-0.79), and a diagnosis of Crohn's disease (CD) rather than ulcerative colitis (UC) (OR 0.74; 95% CI, 0.58-0.93). Conclusions Patients with IBD in this cohort expressed a substantial interest in using social media to aid in disease management. Use was higher in younger patients, females, and patients with active disease. Most patients were unsure of the quality of information posted online, which represents opportunities for clinicians to guide patients to appropriate resources.
Stopping the Launch

A RUMOR COMES IN: A new entrant is thinking about entering your market. Often it is just a whisper; perhaps one of your customers mentions it to a sales person in passing. “So I hear Siemens is developing a new product to enter your category next year,” or “Isn’t Samsung getting into this market later this year? Someone told me that at the trade show last week.” What do you do?
Overview of the TREC 2014 Web Track

The goal of the TREC Web track over the past few years has been to explore and evaluate innovative retrieval approaches over large-scale subsets of the Web – currently using ClueWeb12, on the order of one billion pages. For TREC 2014, the sixth year of the Web track, we implemented the following significant updates compared to 2013. First, the risk-sensitive retrieval task was modified to assess the ability of systems to adaptively perform risk-sensitive retrieval against multiple baselines, including an optional selfprovided baseline. In general, the risk-sensitive task explores the tradeoffs that systems can achieve between effectiveness (overall gains across queries) and robustness (minimizing the probability of significant failure, relative to a particular provided baseline). Second, we added query performance prediction as an optional aspect of the risk-sensitive task. The Adhoc task continued as for TREC 2013, evaluated using both adhoc and diversity relevance criteria
The Pedicled Latissimus Dorsi Flap Provides Effective Coverage for Large and Complex Soft Tissue Injuries Around the Elbow.

Background The pedicled latissimus flap has been shown to provide effective coverage of wounds around the elbow with an average size of 100 to 147 cm2 but with complication rates of 20% to 57%. We believe the pedicled latissimus dorsi flap is an effective and safe technique that provides reliable and durable coverage of considerably larger soft tissue defects around the elbow and proximal forearm. Methods A retrospective review was performed including all patients from Harborview Medical Center between 1998 and 2012 who underwent coverage with pedicled latissimus dorsi flap for defects around the elbow. Demographic information, injury mechanism, soft tissue defect size, complications (minor vs major), and time to surgery were collected. The size of the soft tissue defect, complications, and successful soft tissue coverage were the primary outcome measures. Results A total of 18 patients were identified with variable mechanisms of injury. Average defect size around the elbow was 422 cm2. Three patients had partial necrosis of the distal most aspect of the flap, which was treated conservatively. One patient required a secondary fasciocutaneous flap, and another required conversion to a free latissimus flap secondary to venous congestion. Two were lost to follow-up after discharge from the hospital. In all, 88% (14 of 16) of the patients had documented (>3-month follow-up) successful soft tissue coverage with single-stage pedicled latissimus dorsi flap. Conclusions The pedicled latissimus dorsi flap is a reliable option for large and complex soft tissue injuries around the elbow significantly larger than previous reports. However, coverage of the proximal forearm remains challenging.
Country level corruption and frequency of issue in the U.S. market

This paper examines if country level corruption affects the size of a country’s stock market and its ability to raise equity capital. Using Transparency International’s ranking of countries based on corruption levels, we relate the corruption index to total market capitalization for a sample of 104 countries and also examine the number and volume of new equity issues in each country across time. Additionally, we examine if corruption affects the frequency of foreign firms’ raising capital in the U.S. We find that the corruption index is not highly correlated to either the number of issues or the total volume of issue. The correlation between the average volume of issue and the TI index suggests that there is no clear cut relation between the corruption index and the likelihood of the firm raising capital abroad.
Cyanostar: C-H Hydrogen Bonding Neutral Carrier Scaffold for Anion-Selective Sensors.

Cyanostar, a pentagonal macrocyclic compound with an electropositive cavity, binds anions with CH-based hydrogen bonding. The large size of the cyanostar’s cavity along with its planarity favor formation of 2:1 sandwich complexes with larger anions, like perchlorate, ClO4–, relative to the smaller chloride. We also show that cyanostar is selective for ClO4– over the bulky salicylate anions by using NMR titration studies to measure affinity. The performance of this novel macrocycle as an anion ionophore in membrane ion sensors was evaluated. The cyanostar-based electrodes demonstrated a Nernstian response toward perchlorate with selectivity patterns distinctly different from the normal Hofmeister series. Different membrane compositions were explored to identify the optimum concentrations of the ionophore, plasticizer, and lipophilic additive that give rise to the best perchlorate selectivity. Changing the concentration of the lipophilic additive tridodecylmethylammonium chloride was found to impact the sel...
Toy Vision-Guided 3D Robotic Arm in JavaScript

Modern JavaScript has the power to access the capabilities of the underlying architecture in a simple and portable manner and without installing third-party libraries. A one-page web application was built that connects to the camera, processes the video stream, extracts images, and detects motion. The detected motion is then used to control a 3D robotic arm rendered using webGL within the same page. Although the scope of this paper is purely didactic, the framework can easily be extended and used in a classroom setting for experimentation with different vision algorithms.
Ex vivo binding of the immunosuppressant mycophenolic acid to dog and cat plasma proteins and the effect of co-incubated dexamethasone and prednisolone.

Mycophenolic acid (MPA) has been shown to be promising for the treatment of autoimmune diseases in dogs and cats. In humans, MPA is highly bound to plasma proteins (~97%). It has been recommended to monitor free drug plasma concentrations because the free MPA correlates with its immunosuppressive effect. However, it is unknown if MPA is highly bound to plasma proteins in dogs and cats. The objectives of this study were to determine the extent of plasma protein binding of MPA and evaluate the effect of prednisolone and dexamethasone on the extent of protein binding of MPA in dogs and cats. The extent of plasma protein binding of MPA was determined in plasma collected from clinically healthy adult cats (n = 13) and dogs (n = 14) by combining high-throughput dialysis and ultra-high-liquid chromatography. This study reveals that MPA is highly bound to plasma proteins (>90%) in dogs and cats, mean extent of binding of MPA at 15 μg/ml to plasma proteins being 96% (range, 95%-97%) and 92% (range, 90%-93%) for dogs and cats, respectively. In dog plasma, MPA is primarily bound to albumin. In vitro, prednisolone increased the unbound MPA in dogs (p .05). Results of this study provide valuable information for designing future pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic studies and also therapeutic monitoring programs for dogs and cats.
Effectiveness of a Cognitive Behavioral Intervention for Young Adults with Cystic Fibrosis

This study examined the effectiveness of a cognitive behavioral intervention for young adults with cystic fibrosis (CF). Four young adults were referred for the therapy by medical staff because of perceived problems with anxiety, anger, or coping. Treatment impact was assessed on measures of anxiety, anger, perceptions of functional disability, and coping. A multiple baseline design across subjects was used. Overall, the impact of the cognitive behavioral intervention for young adults with CF was mixed. If participants had elevated baseline scores on anxiety, anger, or perceived functional disability, then some improvement was shown. However, only one participant had elevated baseline anxiety and anger scores, while two had higher functional disability scores. For coping, only one participant clearly displayed a greater use of approach relative to avoidance coping by the end of treatment. Results are discussed in terms of treatment implications, assessment, and coping issues.