cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A Google–Wikipedia–Twitter Model as a Leading Indicator of the Numbers of Coronavirus Deaths

Summary Forecasting the number of cases and the number of deaths in a pandemic provides critical information to governments and health officials, as seen in the management of the coronavirus outbreak But things change Thus, there is a constant search for real-time and leading indicator variables that can provide insights into disease propagation models Researchers have found that information about social media and search engine use can provide insights into the diffusion of flu and other diseases Consistent with this finding, we found that a model with the number of Google searches, Twitter tweets, and Wikipedia page views provides a leading indicator model of the number of people in the USA who will become infected and die from the coronavirus Although we focus on the current coronavirus pandemic, other recent viruses have threatened pandemics (e g severe acute respiratory syndrome) Since future and existing diseases are likely to follow a similar search for information, our insights may prove fruitful in dealing with the coronavirus and other such diseases, particularly in the early phases of the disease Subject terms: coronavirus, COVID-19, unintentional crowd, Google searches, Wikipedia page views, Twitter tweets, models of disease diffusion
Agreement Between the Mini-Cog in the Preoperative Clinic and on the Day of Surgery and Association With Postanesthesia Care Unit Delirium: A Cohort Study of Cognitive Screening in Older Adults.

BACKGROUND Cognitive impairment is common in older surgical patients and is associated with postoperative delirium. However, cognitive function is inconsistently assessed preoperatively, leading to missed opportunities to recognize vulnerable patients. We designed a prospective cohort study to assess the agreement of the Mini-Cog screening tool administered in the preoperative clinic (clinic-day test) or immediately before surgery (surgery-day test) and to determine whether a positive screening for cognitive dysfunction in the surgery-day test is associated with postoperative delirium in the postanesthesia care unit (PACU). METHODS This was a cohort study of patients aged 65-89 years, scheduled for elective, inpatient surgery under general anesthesia between June 20, 2018 and August 3, 2018. Mini-Cog test scores were obtained during a clinic-day test and surgery-day test. The Short Confusion Assessment Method was performed in the PACU. Agreement between Mini-Cog clinic-day and surgery-day test scores was estimated using an ordinally weighted kappa statistic, κ. Multivariable logistic regression was used to determine whether there was an association between a positive screen for cognitive impairment and PACU delirium. Odds ratio analysis was performed to determine whether the Mini-Cog score was associated with PACU delirium. RESULTS Of 128 patients meeting eligibility criteria, 80 patients were enrolled. Ten had cognitive impairment based on the Mini-Cog clinic-day test score, while 70 did not. Age, sex, race, education level, subjective memory impairment, and American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) physical status were equivalent in the 2 groups. The mean number of days between the clinic-day score and the surgery-day score was 8.4 days (standard deviation [SD] = 6.9). Mini-Cog clinic-day and surgery-day scores had high agreement (κ = 0.78; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.69-0.87; P 2 (odds ratio [OR] = 12.8; 95% CI, 2.6-63.8, P = .002). Similarly, patients with Mini-Cog clinic-day test scores compatible with cognitive impairment had an estimated 29 times higher odds of PACU delirium compared to patients with normal cognitive function (OR = 29.0; 95% CI, 2.6-63.8, P < .001). CONCLUSIONS These data support the approach of using the Mini-Cog on the day of surgery to screen for cognitive impairment in older patients. Importantly, Mini-Cog surgery-day test scores compatible with cognitive impairment (≤2) were strongly associated with PACU delirium.
Unsaturated Shear Strength of Compacted Clayey Soil via Suction-controlled Ring Shear Testing

An experimental program has been undertaken to assess both peak and residual shear strength parameters of statically compacted, moderate plasticity clayey soil under suction-controlled conditions, resulting in a defined set of suction-dependent peak and residual failure envelopes over a relatively wide range of suction states, from 0 to 300 kPa. The experimental program was accomplished in a servo/suction-controlled ring shear apparatus, which is suitable for testing unsaturated soils under large deformations via the axis-translation technique. Test results substantiate the crucial role that has been observed to be played by the imposed matric suction on the residual shear strength of compacted clayey soils. For the range of net normal stress (0-200 kPa) and matric suction (0-300 kPa) states investigated, the increase in either peak or residual shear strength, with increasing matric suction, was found to be manifestly nonlinear. Furthermore, a distinct correspondence was observed between the nonlinearity of the peak shear strength envelope, with respect to increasing matric suction, and the soil-water retention properties of the clayey soil. Results, in general, suggest that a conceptual residual shear strength framework for unsaturated soils, similar to that postulated for peak shear strength, can eventually be formulated as more experimental evidence of this kind is made available.
An autonomous solar driven adsorption cooling system

Abstract Attempts to develop autonomous solar adsorption chillers without additional controls to regulate system operation have yielded low cooling capacity and poor coefficients of performance (COPs) due to the use of the sun’s diurnal cycle for control of system operation. A thermally driven, solar adsorption chiller with consistent cooling rates is investigated here. A model for a single-bed system is considered with activated-carbon/ammonia as the working pair. The modeled heat input corresponds to 1 m2 of collector area. Autonomous operation is achieved using novel thermally activated controls to regulate the heating and cooling of the adsorbent bed, rather than relying on the solar cycle. Heat from the collector is stored in a hot-side thermal mass during the adsorption phase, and cooling is delivered by an air-cooled heat sink. The system does not require pumping power or any auxiliary systems for operation. The simple design and elimination of expensive complex components make this system ideal for cooling applications in the developing world or in installations not connected to the grid.
Mosaic Mutant Analysis Identifies PDGFRα/PDGFRβ As Negative Regulators of Adipogenesis

Fat cells originate from adipocyte progenitors (APs) that express platelet-derived growth factor receptors, PDGFRα and PDGFRβ. Upon maturation, adipocytes lose expression of both PDGFRs. We previously showed that elevated PDGFRα signaling inhibits adipogenesis and induces a myofibroblast-like cell fate. However, the function of the two PDGFRs in APs during postnatal development and in adulthood remains ambiguous. Therefore, we combined AP lineage tracing and functional analyses by developing a sequential dual-recombinase approach that creates mosaic Pdgfra- or Pdgfrb-mutant cells by Cre/lox recombination, which then triggers a genetically linked Flp/frt reporter to track individual cell fates. By lineage tracing, we show that the Pdgfrb lineage changes over time, shifting from postnatal expression in APs to adult expression in non-adipogenic mural cells. In contrast, the Pdgfra lineage is enriched for white and brown APs from postnatal growth through adulthood. Functionally, mosaic deletion of PDGFRα enhances the formation of new white, brown, and beige adipocytes postnatal and in adulthood. Mosaic deletion of PDGFRβ also enhances adipogenesis but only during the postnatal period. Therefore, both PDGFRs function as cell-autonomous negative regulators of fat cell differentiation, with PDGFRα exerting this function in juvenile and adult APs, versus PDGFRβ having this function primarily in juvenile APs.
Alternative implementations of hybrid branch predictors

Very accurate branch prediction is an important requirement for achieving high performance on deeply pipelined, superscalar processors. To improve on the prediction accuracy of current single-scheme branch predictors, hybrid (multiple-scheme) branch predictors have been proposed (McFarling (1993), Chang et al. (1994)). These predictors combined multiple single-scheme predictors into a single predictor. They use a selection mechanism to decide for each branch, which single-scheme predictor to use. The performance of a hybrid predictor depends on its single-scheme predictor components and its selection mechanism. Using known single-scheme predictors and selection mechanisms, this paper identifies the most effective hybrid predictor implementation. In addition, it introduces a new selection mechanism, the 2-level selector, which further improves the performance of the hybrid branch predictor.
Assessment and optimization of respiratory syncytial virus prophylaxis in Connecticut, 1996-2013

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) causes seasonal respiratory infection, with hospitalization rates of up to 50% in high-risk infants. Palivizumab provides safe and effective, yet costly, immunoprophylaxis. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends palivizumab only for high-risk infants and only during the RSV season. Outside of Florida, the current guidelines do not recommend regional adjustments to the timing of the immunoprophylaxis regimen. Our hypothesis is that adjusting the RSV prophylaxis regimen in Connecticut based on spatial variation in the timing of RSV incidence can reduce the disease burden compared to the current AAP-recommended prophylaxis regimen. We obtained weekly RSV-associated hospital admissions by ZIP-code in Connecticut between July 1996 and June 2013. We estimated the fraction of all Connecticut RSV cases occurring during the period of protection offered by immunoprophylaxis ("preventable fraction") under the AAP guidelines. We then used the same model to estimate protection conferred by immunoprophylaxis regimens with alternate start dates, but unchanged duration. The fraction of RSV hospitalizations preventable by the AAP guidelines varies by county because of variations in epidemic timing. Prophylaxis regimens adjusted for state- or county-level variation in the timing of RSV seasons are superior to the AAP-recommended regimen. The best alternative strategy yielded a preventable fraction of 95.1% (95% CI 94.7-95.4%), compared to 94.1% (95% CI 93.7-94.5%) for the AAP recommendation. In Connecticut, county-level recommendations would provide only a minimal additional benefit while adding complexity. Initiating RSV prophylaxis based on state-level data may improve protection compared with the AAP recommendations.
Abstract P102: Variability In Lipid Levels And Risk For Cardiovascular Disease: An Electronic Health Record-based Population Cohort Study

Background: Larger within-patient variability of lipid levels has been associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, measures of lipid variability are not currently us...
Chapter 8 Chemical Reactions in Plasma Deposition

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses chemical reactions in plasma deposition. One of the first efforts to understand the chemical reactions occurring in silane discharges was a study of the kinetics of silane decomposition in a direct current dc discharge. Glow-discharge deposition is the most complicated technique used for the production of hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H). It is also the method that has produced the most efficient solar cells. The connection between deposition parameters and the properties of the film produced is indirect. Electrons in the discharge are accelerated by the electric field and undergo both elastic and inelastic collisions with the atoms and molecules present. The electron energy distribution is, therefore, determined by the types of atoms and molecules present in the discharge, their concentration, and the magnitude and frequency of the electric field. Inelastic collisions with atoms and molecules can ionize them, replacing electrons lost to the discharge. Inelastic collisions with molecules can raise them to unstable excited states that dissociate. In silane discharges, SiHn free radicals and atomic hydrogen are produced as well as ions. Increasing the electric field increases both the number and average energy of the electrons.
Modulation of Inhibition and the Transition to Seizures

Understanding the mechanisms which underlie the transition between interictal and ictal activity is one of the most critical issues in the study of epilepsy. In all forms of epilepsy, the electrical activity in most parts of the brain is normal most of the time. A seizure occurs when neurons in many parts of the brain, including those parts which are normal, develop synchronized activity. In primary generalized epilepsy, the transition between interictal and ictal activity occurs abruptly and without obvious behavioral or electrophysiological warning. In focal epilepsy, the transition appears to occur first in a focal area of abnormality and then spreads to both adjacent and distant areas of normal brain. The phenomena which occur at the cellular level during such transitions have not been well characterized in either the human epilepsies or in most animal models of epilepsy, and therefore relatively few hypotheses have been developed to explain the transition to seizure.
Descending Noradrenergic Projections and their Spinal Terminations

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses descending noradrenergic projections and their spinal terminations. The noradrenergic innervation of the brain and spinal cord is derived from several distinct collections of catecholamine cells distributed from the rostral pons through the caudal medulla. With regard to the descending noradrenergic terminations in the spinal cord, lesions in known noradrenergic cell groups—such as the locus coeruleus—are followed by the subsequent loss of spinal cord noradrenergic fluorescent labeling. Other studies using the retrograde cell marker, horseradish peroxidase (HRP), show that spinal projections originate from cells in a number of brain stem regions known to contain noradrenergic cell bodies. In the experiments that are described in the chapter, two methods are used to identify noradrenergic (and possibly adrenergic) neurons that project to the spinal cord. One method involves the immunocytochemical localization of retrograde transported antibody to dopamine-b-hydroxylase (DBH) following injection into the spinal cord. The second method, a double labeling technique, employs the retrograde transport of HRP to identify spinally projecting cells, combined with conventional DBH immunocytochemistry to simultaneously visualize DBH in these same cells.
NC1900, an Arginine Vasopressin Analogue, Fails to Reduce Brain Edema and Improve Neurobehavioral Deficits in an Intracerebral Hemorrhagic Stroke Mice Model

Objective: There is mounting evidence suggesting that arginine vasopressin via its V1a receptor interaction is involved in the regulation of the brain water channel, aquaporin-4 (AQP4). The role of AQP4 in brain edema resolution has been thoroughly investigated in knock-out animal studies, which showed that its depletion increases brain water content in models of vasogenic edema. As a result, we tested the hypothesis that the activation of V1a receptor by it selective agonist will decrease brain edema in a mouse intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) model.
Oxidation of molybdopterin in sulfite oxidase by ferricyanide. Effect on electron transfer activities.

The attenuation of the sulfite:cytochrome c activity of sulfite oxidase upon treatment with ferricyanide was demonstrated to be the result of oxidation of the pterin ring of the molybdenum cofactor in the enzyme. Oxidation of molybdopterin (MPT) was detected in several ways. Ferricyanide treatment not only abolished the ability of sulfite oxidase to serve as a source of MPT to reconstitute the aponitrate reductase in extracts of the Neurospora crassa mutant nit-1 but also eliminated the ability of sulfite oxidase to reduce dichlorobenzenoneindophenol after anaerobic denaturation. Additionally, the absorption spectrum of anaerobically denatured ferricyanide-treated molybdenum fragment of rat liver sulfite oxidase was typical of fully oxidized pterins. Ferricyanide treatment had no effect on the protein of sulfite oxidase or on the sulfhydryl-containing side chain of MPT. Quantitation of the ferricyanide reaction showed that 2 mol of ferricyanide were reduced per mol of MPT oxidized, yielding a fully oxidized pterin. These results corroborate the previously reported conclusion that the native state of reduction of MPT in sulfite oxidase is at the dihydro level (Gardlik, S., and Rajagopalan, K.V. (1990) J. Biol. Chem. 265, 13047-13054). As a result of oxidation of the pterin ring, the affinity of MPT for molybdenum is decreased, leading to eventual loss of molybdenum. Because the loss of molybdenum is slow, a population of sulfite oxidase molecules can exist in which molybdenum is complexed to oxidized MPT. These molecules retain sulfite:O2 activity, a function apparently dependent solely on the molybdenum-thiolate complex, yet have greatly decreased sulfite:cytochrome c activity, a function requiring heme as well as the molybdenum center of holoenzyme. These observations suggest that the pterin ring of MPT participates in enzyme function, possibly in electron transfer, directly in catalysis, or by controlling the oxidation/reduction potential of molybdenum.
Malaria parasite pre-erythrocytic infection: preparation meets opportunity.

Summary For those stricken with malaria, the classic clinical symptoms are caused by the parasite's cyclic infection of red blood cells. However, this erythrocytic phase of the parasite's life cycle initiates from an asymptomatic pre-erythrocytic phase: the injection of sporozoites via the bite of a parasite-carrying Anopheline mosquito, and the ensuing infection of the liver. With the increased capabilities of studying liver stages in mice, much progress has been made elucidating the cellular and molecular basis of the parasite's progression through this bottleneck of its life cycle. Here we review relevant findings on how sporozoites prepare for infection of the liver and factors crucial to liver stage development as well as key host/parasite interactions.
Induction of 3-Hydroxybenzoate 2-Hydroxylase in a Pseudomonas testosteroni Mutant

Benzoate was established as the inducer of a unique 3-hydroxybenzoate 2-hydroxylase activity found in a Pseudomonas testosteroni mutant which is unable to grow on m-hydroxybenzoate as its sole source of carbon and energy.
Failure of sulphanilamide to inhibit calcification of bone.

BENESCH and co-workers1 have reported almost complete absence of calcification in the bones of rat fœtuses at term, following administration of large doses of sulphanilamide and sulphapyridine to the mothers during the last seven to ten days of the gestation period. Their report was based upon haematoxylin-staining of decalcified bones, with the reservation that this method might not be reliable, and upon X-ray examination of the bones of the foetuses from sulphonamide-treated rats, no mention being made of control observations upon normal fœtuses. The results of observations upon mice were stated to be equivocal.
Intelligence and teachers' ratings as predictors of abstract and concrete learning

Abstract This study concerned the prediction of children's learning with an individual measure of intelligence and teachers' evaluations. Eight abstract and eight concrete nouns were paired with nonsense geometric figures and presented to 60 elementary school children in a three-trial paired-associate (PA) learning task. Subjects' IQ scores on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised and teachers' ratings of learning proficiency were used to predict children's performance on the PA task. Multiple correlations favored abstract learning with verbal scale intelligence, accounting for the majority of the variability. Teachers' ratings provided a surprising degree of predictive efficiency for abstract recall which was redundant with verbal intelligence.
Using Observed Interactions between Sea Turtles and Commercial Bottom-Trawling Vessels to Evaluate the Conservation Value of Trawl Gear Modifications

Abstract The bycatch of sea turtles (order Testudines) in bottom-trawl fisheries is an important conservation issue currently being addressed by the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service and its stakeholders. The agency is considering the implementation of new sea turtle conservation regulations in several mid-Atlantic trawl fisheries, including the expanded use of turtle excluder devices (TEDs). The characteristics of observed sea turtle bycatch are used to calculate four conservation metrics. The lowest-level metric is simple to calculate but not informative of population impacts because it does not adequately incorporate the magnitude and demographics of the affected population. The highest-level metric incorporates both magnitude and demographics and is therefore more difficult to calculate but also more informative. Five size categories of turtles were evaluated with respect to the protection afforded by various TED configurations, and the conservation value of 12 bycatch mitigation alternatives was...
Epistemological Beliefs and Language Learning Beliefs: What Do Language Learners Believe About Their Learning?

This study (a) examines the structure of language learners' beliefs about learning in general and beliefs specifically about language learning and (b) explores the relationship between the 2 belief domains. A belief questionnaire was administered to 187 college students learning Japanese as a foreign language. Factor analyses identified 5 dimensions of general epistemological beliefs comparable to those reported by Schommer (1990, 1994b), and 6 dimensions of language learning beliefs. Although there were some significant correlations between these belief factors, students' beliefs about learning in general and language learning in particular can largely be characterized as consisting of multiple independent dimensions.
Answer to: Letter to the Editor titled is telemedicine a worldwide trend?

telemedicine has enabled the four maternal fetal medicine physicians at the University to be available and accessible to the rest of the health care providers in the state. Reimbursement for telemedicine services first became available in the US in 1999 [2] and by 2004, 34 out of the 50 states were receiving reimbursement for telemedicine services. legal issues to date have not been a problem with our telemedicine service. The challenge for the future in telemedicine is that although this technology appears promising and allows access to populations in rural areas, studies validating that telemedicine is at least equivalent to on-site (face to face) treatment are still lacking. A number of investigations are underway at our University to evaluate telemedicine vs. onsite patient care.
Gene-transfer, stability, and biochemical properties of animal cells transformed with vaccinia DNA.

Abstract The introduction and maintenance of the large DNA (180 kb) from vaccinia virus into animal cells has been accomplished by gene transfer techniques. While all or nearly all vaccinia genome could be found in some clones, no cytopathic effects were observed, indicating that vaccinia DNA was a noninfectious molecule. In addition, the vaccinia virus thymidine kinase (tk) gene was unable to complement the mutant phenotype of mouse LtK(−) cells. The arrangement of viral sequences in transformed cells was analyzed by Southern blots with clones maintained in culture from 50 to 200 cell generations. Some of the viral sequences appear to be integrated into high-molecular-weight cellular DNA. Using the cloned terminal fragment of vaccinia DNA as probe, we have obtained evidence which indicates that free viral DNA molecules are present in a number of transformants. A number of biological properties of these transformants was analyzed. The most significant observation was the failure of these cells to support the replication of exogenously added vaccinia virus while the replication of VSV and Mengo viruses was unaffected. This interference-like phenomenon is correlated with the presence of viral sequences in the transformed cells.
The Dysfunctional Attitudes Scale: Psychometric Properties in Depressed Adolescents.

The psychometric properties and factor structure of the Dysfunctional Attitudes Scale were examined in a sample of 422 male and female adolescents (ages 12-17) with current major depressive disorder. The scale demonstrated high internal consistency (alpha = .93) and correlated significantly with self-report and interview-based measures of depression. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that a correlated 2-factor model, with scales corresponding to perfectionism and need for social approval, provided a satisfactory fit to the data. The goodness-of-fit was equivalent across sexes and age groups. The findings support the use of the Dysfunctional Attitudes Scale and its subscales in the assessment of clinically depressed adolescents.
Business ethics today: A survey

This essay surveys the state of business ethics in North America. It describes the distinctive features of business ethics as an academic sub-discipline and as a pedagogical topic, and compares and contrasts three rival models of business ethics current among philosophers.
Social organization and nest co-occupancy in Peromyscus californicus, a monogamous rodent

Home ranges, social organization, and nest co-occupancy of Peromyscus californicus were studied using radiotelemetry at the Hastings Natural History Reservation, California. Mated pairs were ascertained by the transfer of fluorescent pigments from lactating females to putative fathers. Mated pairs had largely overlapping home ranges that were not statistically distinguishable, whereas adjacent adults had mostly exclusive, statistically distinguishable home ranges. There was no difference in the mean home range of males and females, but mated females tended to have smaller ranges than their mate. Home range size was extremely variable (range: 150–3788 m2) and averaged 1161 m2 across all individuals. Male home range size was inversely correlated with population density, suggestive of a social influence on home range. Putative fathers spent comparable amounts of time to females in the nest — presumably caring for the young — which supports previous laboratory reports of paternal care in this species. All data collected in this study are consistent with previous suggestions that P. californicus live in semi-permanent family groups and are monogamous.
Differential iron chlorosis of oat cultivars ‐ a review

Abstract Markedly different iron chlorosis symptoms were observed among “winter” oat genotypes in field trials at Beevllle, Texas, during the 1975 and 1976 production seasons. An oat cultivar showing the most severe field chlorosis symptoms and one having no apparent chlorosis subsequently were grown in several iron‐deficient soils in the greenhouse and in controlled‐environment nutrient‐solution cultures to more critically study these Fe‐stress responses. TAM 0–312, the susceptible cultivar, exhibited severe Fe chlorosis symptoms in iron‐deficient soils in Texas greenhouse experiments and had a very dramatic response to soil treatment with either chelated or powdered metallic iron. In contrast, the “chlorosis resistant” cultivar, Coker 227, exhibited no chlorosis symptoms in the greenhouse experiments, and showed little response to soil treatment with Fe compounds. In controlled environment studies at the U.S.D.A. Plant Stress Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland, Coker 227 was found to be much more efficien...
Magnon edge modes

Abstract We present a theory of long wavelength magnons localized at the apex of a semi-infinite, right angle wedge of a simple cubic, Heisenberg ferromagnet, with nearest and next nearest neighbor exchange interactions, formed by the intersection of two [100] surfaces. The finite difference equation of motion for the magnon creation operators is converted into a partial differential equation in the long wavelength limit, which incorporates the boundary conditions on these operators at the faces of the wedge. The modes obtained are wavelike in the direction parallel to the edge of the wedge, and their amplitudes decay exponentially with increasing distance into the wedge from its apex. The energies of these models lie below those of bulk and surface magnons.
Thermodynamic Guidelines for the Design of Bimetallic Catalysts for Oxygen Electroreduction and Rapid Screening by Scanning Electrochemical Microscopy. M-Co (M: Pd, Ag, Au)

We propose guidelines for the design of improved bimetallic (and related) electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in acidic media. This guide is based on simple thermodynamic principles assuming a simple mechanism where one metal breaks the oxygen-oxygen bond of molecular O(2) and the other metal acts to reduce the resulting adsorbed atomic oxygen. Analysis of the Gibbs free energies of these two reactions guides the selection of combinations of metals that can produce alloy surfaces with enhanced activity for the ORR when compared to the constituent metals. Selected systems have been tested by fabricating arrays of metallic catalysts consisting of various binary and ternary combinations of Pd, Au, Ag, and Co deposited on glassy carbon (GC) substrates. The electrocatalytic activity of these materials for the ORR in acidic medium was examined using scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM) in a new rapid-imaging mode. This was used to rapidly screen arrays covering a wide range of catalyst compositions for their activity for the ORR in 0.5 M H(2)SO(4). Using the SECM technique, we have identified combinations of metals with enhanced electrocatalytic activities when compared with the constituent, pure metals. Addition of Co to Pd, Au, and Ag clearly decreases the ORR overpotential, in agreement with the proposed model. Catalyst spots that exhibited enhanced electrocatalytic activity in the SECM screening technique were then examined using classical rotating disk electrode (RDE) experiments. The activity of carbon black supported catalyst mixtures on a GC RDE and the electrocatalytic activity determined using the SECM screening technique showed excellent agreement. C/Pd-Co electrodes (10-30% Co) exhibited remarkable activity for ORR catalysis, close to that of carbon-supported Pt.
Nucleic Acid Changes in Sarcoma 180 Following Administration of Aminopterin.

SummaryThe pentose nucleic acid (PNA) and desoxypentose nucleic acid (DNA) content of sarcoma 180 tumors has been determined in mice receiving aminopterin and in controls. The chief alteration associated with aminopterin administration was an increase in the ratio of PNA to DNA due to a reduction in the relative DNA content. Tumors which had been serially transplanted into aminopterin-treated mice, when used as inocula, showed no difference when compared to stock tumors in their subsequent response to aminopterin.
Crystal growth of Ln2NiO4 (Ln = La, Pr, Nd) by skull melting

Abstract Growth of large single crystals of quasi-two-dimensional Ln2NiO4 (Ln = La, Pr, Nd) has been accomplished using the radio frequency technique of skull melting under controlled oxygen partial pressures. No evidence of intergrowth of other phases such as Ln3Ni2O7 or higher homologs was observed. Determination of the Ni3+ content indicates that the crystals are cation deficient.
The toxic effects of flame retardants: a gene expression study in elucidating their carcinogenicity

Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers (PBDEs) are flame retardants widely used in many commercial products, including building materials, electronics, furnishings, motor vehicles, airplanes, plastics, polyurethane foams, and textiles. Although the specific toxic action of these chemicals is not clear, it is reported that they can cause serious damage to the nervous, reproductive, and endocrine systems. These chemicals are branded as “probable carcinogens” by Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Therefore, this study is taken up to investigate the expression of genes namely, TP-53, RAD1, CRADD, and ATM, which are involved in apoptosis, DNA repair and cell cycle regulation. For this study human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) are exposed to 5 μM of BDE-85 (a penta-BDE) and BDE-209 (deca-BDE). The results of this report reveal significant alteration in all the genes under investigation in BDE-85 and BDE-209 exposed cells. The BDE-85 induced responses are significantly more than BDE-209. These results emphasize the congener specific action of PBDEs on the expression of genes relevant to DNA repair and cell division of HUVEC cells.
The effect of chlorhexidine gluconate irrigation on the root canal flora of freshly extracted necrotic teeth

Forty freshly extracted teeth with necrotic pulps were endodontically treated under simulated clinical conditions. Bacteriologic samples were obtained before during, immediately after, and 24 hours after instrumentation, irrigation, and medication either with 0.2 percent chlorhexidine gluconate or with sterile saline. There was a highly significant (p less than 0.0049) reduction in microorganisms in the chlorhexidine-treated specimens after the instrumentation and irrigation procedures. Further significant reductions were noted after intracanal dressing of the teeth for 24 hours with the chlorhexidine gluconate solution. The teeth treated with saline also demonstrated a generalized decrease in flora after the biomechanical procedures. However, there was an absolute increase in numbers of microorganisms for 80 percent of the uniradicular and 50 percent of the multiradicular specimens when no intracanal, antimicrobial dressing was applied. It was concluded that chlorhexidine gluconate in a 0.2 percent solution can be an effective antimicrobial agent when used as an endodontic irrigating solution and that as an intracanal, interappointment dressing, chlorhexidine helps to further reduce bacteria remaining within the root canal system.
Photolytic measurement of the O + OH rate constant at 295 K

Abstract The photolysis of ozone in 40 Torr nitrogen with small amounts of water was used to measure the O + OH rate constant at 295 K. A value of 3.17±0.51(1σ)×10 −11 cm 3 / s was determined by kinetic modeling of OH decays monitored by laser induced fluorescence, in agreement with current recommendations.
Behavior of annealed type 316 stainless steel under monotonic and cyclic biaxial loading at room temperature

Abstract This paper addresses the elastic-plastic behavior of type 316 stainless steel, one of the major structural alloys used in liquid-metal fast breeder reactor components. The study was part of a continuing program to develop a structural design technology applicable to advanced reactor systems. Here, the behavior of solution annealed material was examined through biaxial stress experiments conducted at room temperature under radial loadings (√3τ = σ) in tension-torsion stress space. The effects of both stress limited monotonic loading and strain limited cyclic loading were determined on the size, shape, and position of yield loci corresponding to a small offset strain (10 microstrain) definition of yield. In the present work, the aim was to determine the extent to which the constitutive laws previously recommended for type 304 stainless steel are applicable to type 316 stainless steel. It was concluded that for the conditions investigated, the inelastic behavior of the two materials are qualitatively similar. Specifically, the von Mises yield criterion provides a reasonable approximation of initial yield behavior and the subsequent hardening behavior, at least under small offset definitions of yield, is to the first order kinematic in nature.
Structures and rheological properties of corn starch as affected by acid hydrolysis

Abstract Common corn starch was treated with different concentrations of hydrochloric acid, 0.06, 0.14, and 1.0N, for different lengths of time, 18, 6, and 1 h, respectively, to reach a similar peak viscosity as measured by Brabender Viscoamylograph. The fine structures, crystallinity and thermal properties were characterized and the rheological properties were evaluated using both compression and dynamic oscillatory tests. Acid hydrolysis had little effect on amylopectin branch chain-length distribution, gelatinization and retrogradation properties. However, the higher acid concentration (1.0N) degraded both amylopectin and amylose to a greater extent compared with the other two lower acid concentrations (0.06 and 0.14N). The acid treated starches had slightly higher degrees of crystallinity and lower amylose content than did the unmodified starch. Degradation of amylose and amylopectin by a high acid concentration resulted in a decrease in storage modulus (G′), loss modulus (G″), gelling temperature, and gel strength of the acid-thinned starches.
Optical signal processing with illumination-encoded filters

Recently, computer vision researchers have shown that orthogonal functions and computational techniques from the signal processing framework can be mapped directly into the scene using projector-camera systems. These scene-space signal processing algorithms are achieved with illumination-encoded functions as primitives and computations derived from surface reflection models. Some examples of this new optical approach include convolution filtering and aliasing-canceling filter banks. In this paper we present computational techniques for realizing fundamental elements of the signal processing framework in the 3D scene domain. The motivation for optical computation directly in the scene is to avoid information loss when the rich 3D scene is reduced to an image. The computations are at subpixel resolution because they are performed within each camera sensor. Scene-space filtering applies 2D operators to locally planar 3D surfaces based on the optical coupling of the scene surface topology with projector-camera devices. Signal processing issues such as sampling geometry, dynamic range, mathematical operators, and resolution are addressed. We report a novel subpixel point correspondence technique for accurate camera sensor footprint localization in general scenes. It is a parallelizable optical clipping algorithm related to the polygon clipping and box filter anti-aliasing algorithms used in computer graphics. It replaces the regular coordinates of an image with a local surface parametrization in projector coordinates. The result is subpixel resolution filter responses. We provide experiments and results to evaluate the performance of our scene-space filtering techniques with both planar and non-planar objects.
Microphotometric Errors for Photographically Recorded Spectral Lines of Nonuniform Half-width

Various microphotometric (or densitometric) techniques for generating quantitative intensity information from photographically recorded spectral lines of time or spacially resolved sources are discussed. The impact of various parameters on the accuracy of quantitative densitometry is presented. These parameters include line widths of the calibration spectrum, source line broadening, microphotometer scan slit width and the optical density of the photographic image. Nonrandom errors associated with the use of various microphotometer slit widths for spectral lines of nonuniform half-width are presented. Spectral lines which are uniform and exhibit slit width or diffraction limited resolution can be scanned with any size microphotometer slit width as long as the calibration curve is prepared using the same scan slit width. The use of microphotometer slit widths narrower than the line width produce H and D curves with maximal γ and increased accuracy in the final intensity value. A density-to-intensity conversion accuracy with a 6% average error was determined for SA-1 plates. For sources whose line widths are larger than the spectrometer bandpass, minimal errors are generated by using a narrow line source for calibration and scanning this spectrum with a slit width less than the line width. Scanning of the broadened line of interest is accomplished using a scan slit width equal to approximately twice the spectrometer slit width. Under these conditions an average error of approximately 11% was determined experimentally for SA-1 plates.
Electronic properties of an amorphous solid. III. The cohesive energy and the density of states

The effect of topological disorder on the cohesive energy and the electronic density of states of amorphous Si and Ge is investigated. The methods used include moment expansions and various exactly soluble models that include the Bethe lattice and Husimi cactus lattices, for which an extremely compact derivation of the density of states is presented. An isolated topological defect in a diamond cubic lattice is also studied. The question of the existence of square-root band edges in topologically disordered systems is examined. A review of recent experimental evidence, relating to the shape of the density of states, is given.
Role of the PAR1 Receptor 8th Helix in Signaling THE 7-8-1 RECEPTOR ACTIVATION MECHANISM

Abstract The protease-activated receptors are tethered ligand G protein-coupled receptors that are activated by proteolytic cleavage of the extracellular domain of the receptor. The archetypic protease-activated receptor PAR1 strongly activates Gq signaling pathways, but very little is known regarding the mechanism of signal transference between receptor and internally located G protein. The recent x-ray structure of rhodopsin revealed the presence of a highly conserved amphipathic 8th helix that is likely to be physically interposed between receptor and G protein. We found that the analogous 8th helix region of PAR1 was critical for activation of Gq-dependent signaling. Engineering an 8th helix α-aneurysm with a downwards-directed alanine residue markedly interfered with signal transference to Gq. The 8th helix-anchoring cysteine palmitoylation sites were important for the affinity of ligand-dependent G protein coupling but did not affect the maximal signal. A network of H-bond and ionic interactions was found to connect the N-terminal portion of the 8th helix to the nearby NPXXY motif on transmembrane helix 7 and also to the adjacent intracellular loop-1. Disruption of these pairwise interactions caused additive defects in coupling to G protein, indicating that the transmembrane 7–8th helix-i1 loop may move in a coordinated manner to transfer the signal from PAR1 to G protein. This “7-8-1” interaction network was found to be prevalent in G protein-coupled receptors involved in endothelial signaling and angiogenesis.
Proximity function calculation of patterns in positive electron resists

Experiments have been performed to determine the accuracy of the proximity function model in predicting feature dimensions for two positive electron resists. The model parameters were determined from the linewidth versus dose relationship for single beam scans. A small systematic ‘overdevelopment’ error was found in the calculated patterns, which is attributed to the limitations of the model assumptions.
Perspectives on the care and management of infants with trisomy 18 and trisomy 13: striving for balance.

Purpose of review At the time of diagnosis of the trisomy 18 and trisomy 13, parents and care providers face difficult and challenging decisions regarding management. Because of the increased infant mortality and developmental outcome associated with both conditions, the conventional approach to management has been to withhold technological support. In recent years, an active dialogue on this topic has emerged. The purpose of this review is to summarize the literature on the outcome of infants with trisomy 18 and 13 and to discuss the key themes in this emerging dialogue. Recent findings In recent years, several important studies have appeared that have analyzed the issues relevant to this topic, including parental autonomy, best interest of the child standard, and quality of life. Some authorities state that in areas of ambiguity it is best to defer to parents’ views, whereas others indicate concern that the best interest standard has given way to parental autonomy. Information on the actual experience of parents of children with trisomy 18 and 13 has been limited until recently. Summary The author recommends a balanced approach to counseling families of the newborn with trisomy 18 and 13 at the time of diagnosis. The counseling process should include presentation of accurate survival figures, avoidance of language that assumes outcome, communication of developmental outcome that does not presuppose perception of quality of life, and respect for the family’s choice, whether it be comfort care or intervention.
Estimating a Theoretical Contract Curve between Vertical Stages in the Illinois Grain Industry

The impact of technological change and the corresponding elevator pricing policy is analyzed for an aggregated corn industry. A set of theoretical and empirical profit and cost functions are estimated and are used to illustrate that the competing sectors are not presently on the presumed contract curve and are not maximizing joint industry profits. The analysis suggests alternative pricing policies and resulting market structure patterns which will simultaneously increase profits for all competing sectors and will minimize total industry costs. Differences in characteristics of the grain industry suggest that alternative sets of market structure patterns and pricing policies may develop.
Dispersal of sea lamprey larvae during early life: relevance for recruitment dynamics

Dispersal is an important early life history process that influences fish population dynamics and recruitment. We studied larval sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) dispersal by combining spatially explicit field sampling, genetic methods, and laboratory experiments to investigate how far sea lamprey larvae can disperse away from nests during their first growing season; subsequent dispersal by age 1 of sea lamprey; and the effect of density on larval dispersal. In two study streams sea lamprey larvae were observed to have moved >150 m downstream from the most likely source nest within 2–3 weeks of hatching. Conversely, randomization trials suggested that for both streams age 0 larvae were found closer to full siblings than would be expected if dispersal was not constrained by distance. Restricted dispersal was also observed for age 1 larvae in five streams, although for this age class full siblings were more commonly found to be separated by >1,000 m. Laboratory experiments indicated a significant effect of density on the movement of larval sea lamprey, with more larval movement at higher densities. Temperature also affected movement significantly, with reduced larval movements at cooler temperatures. Our findings suggest that larval sea lamprey dispersal is sufficient to minimize the likelihood of strong density-dependent effects on recruitment, even with large population sizes.