cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Influence of redox potential on product distribution in Clostridium thermosuccinogenes

Clostridium thermosuccinogenes are the only known anaerobic thermophilic bacteria that ferment inulin to succinate and acetate as major products and formate, lactate, and ethanol as minor products. In this study, organic acid production in 2-L fermentations having an initially low (−300 to −330 mV) or high (−220 to −250 mV) redox potential was compared for two strains of C. thermosuccinogenes (DSM 5808 and DSM 5809). Although DSM 5809 consistently provided higher succinate yield, high variability in results was attributed to the absence of redox control during the fermentations, and, therefore, fermentations at three controlled redox potentials (−240, −275, and −310 mV) were conducted. At an intermediate redox potential (−275 mV), the succinate yield was the greatest (0.36 g of succinate/g of hexose unit), whereas ethanol yield was the least (0.02 g/g). Redox potential did not significantly affect acetate or lactate formation. At controlled redox potential of −275 mV, the growth of DSM 5809 on three substrates was also compared: inulin, fructose, and glucose. DSM 5809 had similar growth rates when inulin (0.20/h) or glucose (0.21/h) was the carbon source but grew more slowly when fructose (0.16/h) was the carbon source. Also, the specific rate of utilization of fructose by DSM 5809 was higher (0.89 g of fructose/[g of biomass·h]) compared to glucose (0.53 g/[g·h]) or inulin (0.55 g/[g·h]). Succinate was the major product formed by DSM 5809 fermenting inulin (0.50 g/[g·h]) or glucose (0.36 g/[g·h]), and ethanol was the principal product when DSM 5809 fermented fructose (0.54 g/[g·h]).
Microbial Control of Black Cutworm (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in Turfgrass Using Agrotis ipsilon Multiple Nucleopolyhedrovirus

Agrotis ipsilon multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus (family Baculoviridae, genus Nucleopolyhedrovirus, AgipMNPV), a naturally occurring baculovirus, was found infecting black cutworm, Agrotis ipsilon (Hufnagel) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), on central Kentucky golf courses. Laboratory, greenhouse, and field studies investigated the potential of AgipMNPV for managing black cutworms in turfgrass. The virus was highly active against first instars (LC50 = 73 occlusion bodies [OBs] per microl with 2-microl dose; 95% confidence intervals, 55-98). First instars that ingested a high lethal dose stopped feeding and died in 3-6 d as early second instars, whereas lethally infected fourth instars continued to feed and grow for 4-9 d until death. Sublethal doses consumed by third or fifth instars had little or no effect on subsequent developmental rate or pupal weight. Horizontal transmission of AgipMNPV in turfgrass plots was shown. Sprayed suspensions of AgipMNPV (5 x 10(8) - 6 x 10(9) OBs/m2) resulted in 75 to > 93% lethal infection of third or fourth instars in field plots of fairway-height creeping bentgrass, Agrostis stolonifera (Huds.), and on a golf course putting green collar. Virus spray residues (7 x 10(9) OBs/m2) allowed to weather on mowed and irrigated creeping bentgrass field plots significantly increased lethal infection of implanted larvae for at least 4 wk. This study, the first to evaluate a virus against a pest in turfgrass, suggests that AgipMNPV has potential as a preventive bioinsecticide targeting early instar black cutworms. Establishing a virus reservoir in the thatch and soil could suppress successive generations of that key pest on golf courses and sport fields.
Effects and interactions of juvenile hormone and β-ecdysone on Drosophila imaginal discs cultured in vitro

Abstract Evagination of mass-isolated imaginal discs of Drosophila melanogaster is induced in vitro by β-ecdysone and reversibly inhibited by Cecropia juvenile hormone (JH). Both optically active enantiomers of the C 18 Cecropia JH inhibit ecdysone-induced evagination and produce developmental abnormalities when fed to larvae. The β-ecdysone-induced increase in incorporation into RNA is inhibited by JH. However, JH fails to inhibit the ecdysone-stimulated increase in transport of 3 H-uridine into disc cells. In fact, JH itself induces an increase in uridine transport into discs. After incubation of discs with JH and β-ecdysone for 3 hr and removal of the hormones, there is an immediate increase in incorporation into RNA similar to that induced by β-ecdysone itself. This result indicates that JH does not prevent β-ecdysone from binding to its receptors, but prevents only the increase in incorporation into RNA. It is proposed that JH may prevent the transcription of ecdysone-derepressed genes by acting as a corepressor.
The importance of water molecules in ion channel simulations

Crozier et al (2001 Biophys. J. 81 3077) have simulated an electrically neutral but polar model channel under an applied field and found that there was a current of positive Na+ ions but there was no current of negative Cl− ions unless the concentration was high or a very large field was applied. They suggested that this asymmetry in an electrically symmetric model was not due to differences in ion size but was due to the asymmetry of the water molecules, that results in frustrated orientations of the solvation water molecules near the Cl− ions in the confined geometry of the channel. This suggestion is tested by two simulations that are reported here. In the first simulation, we repeat the Crozier et al simulations but with the ion sizes reversed, with the cation having the Cl ion diameter and the anion having the Na ion diameter. As before, it is the cations that pass through the channel. The second simulation is a Langevin dynamics simulation for the Crozier et al channel but without explicit water molecules. In this second simulation, both Na+ and Cl− ions pass through the channel with roughly equal currents. Both simulations confirm the important role of water in channel simulations.
New Combinations for Arceuthobium Aureum (Viscaceae) in Mexico and Central America

Morphological and molecular analyses of Arceuthobium aureum Hawksworth & Wiens and A. globosum Hawksworth & Wiens (Viscaceae) demonstrated that these taxa are closely related but can be distinguished based on a few morphological differences, phenology, and host ranges. Therefore, the taxa previously treated under A. aureum are recombined under A. globosum: A. globosum subsp. aureum (Hawksworth & Wiens) Mathiasen and A. globosum subsp. petersonii (Hawksworth & Wiens) Mathiasen.
Genotypic change affecting conclusions regarding the mode of inheritance of elements of behaviour

Abstract A previous study reached certain conclusions regarding the mode of inheritance of elements of the mating pattern in male mice. The present experiment tested the generality of these conclusions by changing one inbred parent strain while retaining the other. This genotypic change resulted in different conclusions regarding mode of inheritance for 10 of 14 measures.
Sequence First. Ask Questions Later.

Comparative sequence analyses of eukaryotic genes and genomic regions are beginning to provide a wealth of information that is directly relevant to human biology. Functional changes that set us apart from apes are identifiable, as are functional constraints in proteins and genomic elements that arose in our relatively distant phylogenetic past.
Factor VIII biosynthesis: new inspirations?

Comment on Jacquemin et al, page [515][1] Many years of study have been devoted to the seemingly simple question of where coagulation factor VIII is made, but the question has never been completely answered. There remains more to know about the origin of coagulation factor VIII in the circulation
Molecularly imprinted ligand-exchange adsorbents for the chiral separation of underivatized amino acids

Ligand-exchange adsorbents that are enantioselective for underivatized α-amino acids have been synthesized by molecular imprinting using only achiral monomers. Bulk polymers were prepared by allowing the functional monomer, Cu(II)–N-(4-vinylbenzyl)iminodiacetic acid, to form complexes with the template amino acid in solution, followed by crosslinking with ethylene glycol dimethacrylate. To make supports suitable for chromatography, the imprinted polymer was grafted to derivatized silica particles. Racemic mixtures of various underivatized α-amino acids are resolved on the imprinted adsorbents. Adsorbents prepared from amino acids with larger, aromatic side chains exhibit the highest selectivities (α=1.65 for the enantioresolution of d,l-phenylalanine). Cross-selectivity for similar amino acids also depends on side chain size: materials templated with l- or d-phenylalanine exhibit good enantioselectivity when challenged with racemic tyrosine (α∼1.4) and much reduced enantioselectivities towards d,l-tryptophan or aliphatic amino acids. Materials imprinted with alanine show no selectivity. The ability of a material imprinted with an amino acid enantiomer to resolve an analogous chiral amine is also demonstrated. The mechanisms underlying the observed enantioselectivity are discussed in light of the three-point interaction model for conventional chiral ligand-exchange separations.
Comments on ‘the characteristics of turbulent velocity components in the surface layer under convective conditions’, by H. A. Panofsky, H. Tennekes, D. H. Lenschow, and J. C. Wyngaard

Panofsky et al. (1977) have presented an analysis which seems to show a clear dependence of the dimensionless turbulence statistics Σ u /u * and Σv/u * on the planetary boundary-layer stability parameter z i/L. However it is possible that much of the apparent relationship results from artificial correlations introduced by the use of inter-related dimensionless parameters. Apparent dependencies of similar statistical quantities on z/L in the surface boundary layer might also be contaminated.
The metrical basis for children's subjectless sentences

Abstract Young English speakers often omit sentential subjects but infrequently omit objects. In this paper I consider five accounts for these omissions that differ in the explanation of why children make omissions (grammar versus production constraints) and what causes the asymmetry in subject and object omissions. Hyams, 1986 , Hyams, 1987 , Paper presented at the Boston University Conference on Language Development, October) proposes that children are born with an innate grammar that causes them to omit pronominal subjects. Valian (1989 ,Papers and Reports on Child Language Development, 28, 156–163) notes that subject deletion is acceptable in casual adult English: Based on these data, children omit subjects when sentence complexity puts too great a burden on the production system. On a pragmatic account ( Bates, 1976 ,Language and context. New York: Academic Press; Greenfield & Smith, 1976 ,The structure of communication in early language development. New York: Academic Press), children have limited production abilities and omit the least communicatively informative elements: Because subjects typically contain given information, they are frequently omitted. P. Bloom (1989 ,Papers and Reports on Child Language Development, 28, 57–63) argues that processing considerations cause children to expand sentences rightward, at the expense of leftward elements. Finally, I propose a metrical hypothesis in which children omit weakly stressed syllables, including pronouns and other function morphemes, particularly from iambic (weak-strong) feet. Data from an imitation task strongly support the metrical hypothesis over the others. The results are examined in light of a model of developing speech production.
Older adult perceptions of the physicians’ role in promoting physical activity

Purpose: The purpose of this research was to explore the perceptions of independent living older adults regarding their physicians’ role in promoting physical activity (PA). Methods: A qualitative inductive analysis was undertaken using focus group discussions of independent living adults over age 60. Thirty-one participants were placed into focus groups based on their current level of PA (three focus groups of physically active persons, and three focus groups of physically inactive persons). Discussions were audiotaped and transcribed verbatim. Qualitative data were open and axially coded and independently analysed by two researchers for emergent themes. Inter-rater reliability was established (κ = 0.89). Results: Themes for physically active and physically inactive groups included limited or inadequate discussions with their physician regarding PA, and the use of PA as a secondary prevention method. The physician as an extrinsic motivator of PA emerged only in the physically active group discussions. So...
Corrosion Phenomena for Iron Covered with a Cellulose Nitrate Coating

Abstract The corrosion of metals protected by organic coatings is an incompletely understood phenomenon. Recent investigations by an in situ ellipsometric-electrochemical technique combined with microanalytical studies have provided new insights into the destructive processes. Events such as the roughening of the metal surface, chloride ion accumulation, and the thickening of the surface oxide have been detected under the coating and are interpreted in terms of the chemistry which develops between the microenvironment and the substrate.
VERBAL AND IMAGINAL CODING OF WORDS AND PICTURES

Summary.-2 experiments were conducted to determine whether words and pictures are coded and processed in different fashions. In Exp. I, reaction times (RTs) of same-different judgments were recorded for pairs of words which differed in syllable length (1 vs 3). RTs were longer for the threesyllable than the one-syllable words, indicating a sequentially organized verbal code. Exp. I1 employed a pictorial representation of the words used in Exp. I. There was no correlation between RTs and the syllable length of the picture names in Exp. 11, suggesting that S employed an imaginal code for the pictures which involved parallel, rather than sequential, processing. The results of both studies were taken as support for Paivio's (1971) dual-coding hypothesis. Paivio (1971, Ch. 2) has argued for a dual-coding system in human information processing in which there are two distinct symbolic systems capable of coding and representing various kinds of stimulus information. These two coding systems, imaginal and verbal, are distinguished in terms of both their processing characteristics and the kinds of stimulus information they are best suited to handle. The imaginal coding sys.em is viewed as a parallel processing system, in both the spatial and operational sense (see Neisser, 1967, p. 72 ) and is primarily suited for the processing of relatively concrete information. Paivio defines the concreteness dimension in terms of the directness of sensory reference, which ranges from fairly abstract items (such as words which are fairly remote from the objecrs and events they represent) to relatively concrete materials (such as pictures or actual objects). When dealing with relatively concrete materials, e.g., pictures, the human organism is believed to use an imaginal coding system which represents the spatial properties of the information. This characteristic of representing the spatial properties of stimuli is what makes the imaginal coding system primarily a parallel-processing system, i.e., each stage occurs simultaneously and independently. Obviously this coding system is functionally linked to the process of visual perception. The verbal coding system, on the other hand, is primarily a sequential processing system capable of dealing most effectively with relatively abstract materials, e.g., words. The verbal coding system is sequential in the sense that the processing of information tends to unfold over time, with each stage being
An improved systematic variational method: application to a nuclear system

Abstract A recently developed scheme for generating a variational set of basis states is applied to the determination of the binding energy of a deuteron nucleus. The method has the advantage of being a single-parameter theory which is systematic, and hence, straightforward to generate. Convergence is rapid and the exact (experimental) binding energy is obtained after just five iterations.
The Werner syndrome protein has separable recombination and survival functions.

The Werner syndrome (WS) protein WRN is unique in possessing a 3 � to 5 � exonuclease activity in addition to the 3 � to 5 � helicase activity characteristic of other RecQ proteins. In order to determine in vivo functions of the WRN catalytic activities and their roles in Werner syndrome pathogenesis, we quantified cell survival and homologous recombination after DNA damage in cells expressing WRN missense-mutant proteins that lacked exonuclease and/or helicase activity. Both WRN biochemical activities were required to generate viable recombinant daughter cells. In contrast, either activity was sufficient to promote cell survival after DNA damage in the absence of recombination. These results indicate that WRN has recombination and survival functions that can be separated by missense mutations. Two implications are that Werner syndrome most likely results from the loss of both activities and their associated functions from patient cells, and that WRNmissense mutations or polymorphisms could promote genetic instability and cancer in the general population by selectively interfering with recombination in somatic cells. © 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Documents librarianship IExtending patent access through in-state networks

Abstract U.S. patents form the largest and most comprehensive body of technological literature in the world. The Patent and Trademark Office has greatly expanded its dissemination efforts in response to the interest and need for technological information, increasing to 58 the number of Patent Depository Libraries able to bring patent collections closer to those who need them. The effectiveness of this program could be magnified by enlisting local Government Printing Office depository libraries in cooperative networks. A model for establishing such a network is suggested, based on the experience of New Mexico.
Probability of Precipitation: Assessment and Enhancement of End-User Understanding

Abstract The results of three psychological studies suggest that many people did not understand probability of precipitation (PoP) despite the fact that participants were college undergraduates in the Pacific Northwest, an area with frequent precipitation forecasts. The misunderstanding concerned the class of events to which the probability refers. The combined results reported here suggest that some participants thought that the percentage, indicating chance of precipitation, referred instead to the proportion of area or time that precipitation would be observed. More participants chose to take an umbrella or wear a hooded jacket who mistakenly interpreted the forecast as indicating precipitation for more than half of the area or time as compared to those who do not hold this misunderstanding. In addition, performance only improved significantly when PoP was accompanied by a phrase expressing the probability of no precipitation. This suggests a deep-seated misunderstanding that converts the probabilistic...
Voice Synthesis Supplement to a Computerized Interviewing Training Program: Retention Effects

We examined the effects of adding microcomputer-generated voice synthesis to a computer-assisted learning exercise involving clinical interviewing. Three modes of presenting case material were studied: (a) video text only, (b) voice only, and (c) synthesized voice-plus-video text. College students preferred either the voice-only or text-only presentation, but they more accurately recalled details of the case material in the voice-plus-video text mode.
Analysis of away‐from‐home and at‐home calcium intake in the United States

Americans consume calcium considerably below the recommended daily allowance. This paper examines the impact of socioeconomic and demographic factors on individual intake of calcium from the away-from-home and at-home markets. Results generally imply that older, hispanic, and black females, from larger and lower income households, who are food stamp recipients, and from the West, have lower average daily calcium intake away from home than others. On the other hand; older, taller, employed, hispanic, non-white females from smaller and higher income households in the South have lower average daily calcium intake at home than others.
Die automatische Kursregelung von Flugzeugen

This paper describes a method for the analysis and optimum design of servomechanisms. The transferfunctions of the open loop as well as the Nichols' diagram are used for the systematic and rapid solution of control problems. As an example of the application of this method, the calculation of an automatic control for the longitudinal axis of an aircraft is carried out. The simplest case is first considered, using a vertical gyro to control the pitchaxis of the airplane. In order to improve this system, a rategyro is added. This more complex system serves at the same time as a sample for the investigation of a multiloop system.
Structure of dense shock-melted alkali halides: Evidence for a continuous pressure-induced structural transition in the melt

Hypernetted-chain equation calculations have been made for the ion-ion pair distribution functions in shock-melted CsI, CsBr, KBr, KCl, NaCl, and LiF. The results show that the melt undergoes a gradual pressure-induced structural change from an open NaCl-like structure with six nearest neighbors of opposite charge to one that has a rare-gas close-packed-like arrangement containing about 12 neighbors of mixed charge. These effects are most pronounced for the larger ions in which the short-range repulsions are stronger relative to long-range Coulomb attractions.
Steady Status Study of Distributed Data Caching in Ad Hoc Networks

There has been extensive research on distributed data caching in ad hoc networks. However, most of them focus on how to reduce the average delay of requests and improve the packet delivery ratio, not much work has been done to study the steady-state status achieved by the distributed caching algorithms. Information related to steady-state status includes the convergence time of the distributed caching algorithms, the final data replica placement in the network, and the performance comparison of distributed caching algorithms with optimal centralized caching solution. Previous theoretical results show that to minimize the average access cost (or average search cost) in the network, the optimal number of replica of each data object is proportional to the square root (or two-third) of the data's access frequency. In this work, we empirically show that the optimal number of replicas of each data depends on not only the access frequencies of the data, but also the storage capacity of each node. We evaluate the steady-states of both cooperative distributed data caching technique and a selfish caching in ad hoc networks, and compare them to that of the optimal caching solution obtained using integer linear programming (ILP). Via ns2 simulations, we gain some insights about the steady-states of distributed data caching.
An algorithm for solving linearly constrained minimax problems

Abstract In this study, we propose an algorithm for solving a minimax problem over a polyhedral set defined in terms of a system of linear inequalities. At each iteration a direction is found by solving a quadratic programming problem and then a suitable step size along that direction is taken through an extension of Armijo's approximate line search technique. We show that each accumulation point is a Kuhn-Tucker solution and give a condition that guarantees convergence of the whole sequence of iterations. Through the use of an exact penalty function, the algorithm can be used for solving constrained nonlinear programming. In this case, our algorithm resembles that of Han, but differs from it both in the direction-finding and the line search steps.
TBP recruitment to the U1 snRNA gene promoter is disrupted by substituting a U6 proximal sequence element A (PSEA) for the U1 PSEA.

Abstract Transcription of Drosophila U1 or U6 snRNAs by RNA polymerases II and III respectively requires a unique ∼21 base-pair promoter element termed the proximal sequence element A (PSEA) recognized by the snRNA activating protein complex (DmSNAPc). A five-nucleotide substitution that changed the U1 PSEA to a U6 PSEA inactivated the U1 promoter. Chromatin immunoprecipitation assays indicated this substitution did not affect DmSNAPc DNA binding but instead interfered with SNAPc recruitment of TBP to the TATA-less U1 promoter. These findings support a model wherein sequence differences between the U1 and U6 PSEAs induce distinct DmSNAPc conformational states involved in RNA polymerase selectivity.
Molecular Dynamics Beyond the Adiabatic Approximation: New Experiments and Theory

At the heart of the quantum mechanical description of molecular structure and dynamics lies the adiabatic or Born-Oppenheimer approximation (1 , 2). Starting with an assumption of separability of time scales for nuclear and electronic motion, a familiar picture emerges of nuclei subject to well­ defined forces corresponding to the potential energy surface for a particular electronic state. Although the well-established success of these ideas in the areas of molecular spectroscopy (3-5) and reaction dynamics (6-9) is likely to secure the adiabatic approximation as a continuing foundation of molecular science, the range of dynamical processes that lies within its scope is far from complete. Recent experimental and theoretical advances in particular are beginning to yield a coherent understanding of several phenomena that, far from requiring minor corrections to the adiabatic approximation for their explanation, by their very nature exist entirely outside its framework. Examples of importance in diverse areas of chemistry and physics range from the dynamics of radiationless decay (1015) and nonadiabatic processes in chemical reactions (16-19) to the spectroscopy of excited (20-23) and ionized (24-26) states of isolated molecules, from single collision electronic energy transfer (27--41) to exciton (42) and soliton (43) dynamics and spin-lattice relaxation (44). Specialized reviews on these topics are available.
Unfolding of a leucine zipper is not a simple two-state transition.

Abstract Temperature-induced unfolding of the leucine zipper, an α-helical, double-stranded, coiled-coil, was studied by circular dichroism spectroscopy, spectrofluorimetry and heat capacity scanning calorimetry. It is shown that this process does not represent a simple two-state transition, as previously believed, but consists of several stages. The first transition starts at the very beginning of heating from 0 °C and proceeds with significant heat absorption and decrease of ellipticity. This transition does not depend on the concentration of protein and is sensitive to modification of the N terminus; it is therefore associated with unfolding or fraying of this part of the leucine zipper. The second transition takes place at a considerably higher temperature; it is more pronounced than the first one and does not depend on the concentration of protein, i.e. it is unimolecular. This transition is sensitive to modification of both termini of the leucine zipper and affects the optical properties of a tryptophan residue placed in the central part of the zipper. It therefore involves the whole dimer but does not result in its dissociation, presumably being associated with some repacking of the coiled-coil. This second transition is followed at higher temperatures by the concentration-dependent cooperative unfolding/dissociation of the two strands. The enthalpy and entropy of the temperature-induced structural changes of the leucine zipper that take place before its cooperative unfolding/dissociation comprises almost 40% of the total enthalpy and entropy of unfolding of the completely folded coiled-coil, the state in which it appears to be below 0 °C. Comparison of the total enthalpy of leucine zipper unfolding with that of a single-stranded α-helix shows that their temperature-dependence correlates with the extent of intramolecular non-polar contacts and allows an assessment of the enthalpy of hydrogen bonding in α-helices, which appears to be about 3.3 kJ mol−1 at 20 °C.
Cluster of cases of massive hemorrhage associated with anticoagulant detection in race horses

Five horses originating from 4 different California race tracks were submitted to the California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory for necropsy and diagnostic workup. The 5 horses had a history of sudden collapse and death during exercise. In all of them, massive hemoperitoneum and hemorrhages in other cavities or organs were observed. The liver from these 5 animals and from 27 horses that had been euthanized due to catastrophic leg injuries (controls) were subjected to a rodenticide anticoagulant screen. Traces of brodifacoum, diphacinone, or bromadiolone were detected in the 5 horses with massive bleeding (5/5), and no traces of rodenticides were detected in control horses (0/27). Other frequent causes of massive hemorrhages in horses were ruled out in 4 of the cases; one of the horses had a pelvic fracture. Although only traces of anticoagulants were found in the livers of these horses and the role of these substances in the massive bleeding remains uncertain, it is speculated that exercise-related increases in blood pressure may have reduced the threshold for toxicity of these anticoagulants.
A new criterion for a bulk type I or type II superconductor

Abstract A new criterion for a bulk type I or type II superconductor is found by solving the first Landau-Ginsburg(LG) equation, including the cubic term. The functions obtained for the upper or lower critical field H (parallel or perpendicular to the surface of a sample) near T c are: B= Dt′w 2 ±w D 2 t′ 2 4 +D 3 2 t′ 3 2 k y with t′=1− T T c , w= n 2e , and B = μ o H; D is an undetermined constant, k y is the equivalent wave number near T c . When k y ≥ 0, it is a type I superconductor. When k y A similar criterion for a tin superconductor is also obtained. The agreement between the theory and experimental results is quite good.
Operational experience with SLC damping ring kicker magnets

The damping ring kickers for the SLAC Linear Collider (SLC) must provide 7-Mrad kicks to 1.2-GeV beams with 60-nsec rise and fall times and fit in a 50-cm length around a 21-mm-diameter ceramic beam pipe. This requires that they operate at up to 40 kV. The construction and operation of two types of quasi-coaxial ferrite magnet potted with RTV silicone rubber are discussed. Production yield has been improved by changes in RTV designing, transfer, and cure. Operation lifetime is dominated by voltage, radiation, and thermal cycling. >
Ingestion dose model for transportation risk assessment

Risks of transporting radioactive materials can be estimated using the programme and code RADTRAN. Potential radiation doses to various receptors are calculated by RADTRAN, including doses from routine, incident free transportation and from transportation accidents. If radioactive material is released from a transportation vehicle in an accident, agricultural products in the plume footprint could be contaminated. This paper discusses a method for calculating radiation doses from ingestion of such radioactively contaminated food stuffs. Transportation of radioactive materials occurs throughout the USA, so that agricultural products along many transportation corridors could be affected. However, doses from ingesting agricultural crops contaminated from a traffic accident would be very small compared to natural background radiation.
Sets2Networks: network inference from repeated observations of sets.

Background The skeleton of complex systems can be represented as networks where vertices represent entities, and edges represent the relations between these entities. Often it is impossible, or expensive, to determine the network structure by experimental validation of the binary interactions between every vertex pair. It is usually more practical to infer the network from surrogate observations. Network inference is the process by which an underlying network of relations between entities is determined from indirect evidence. While many algorithms have been developed to infer networks from quantitative data, less attention has been paid to methods which infer networks from repeated co-occurrence of entities in related sets. This type of data is ubiquitous in the field of systems biology and in other areas of complex systems research. Hence, such methods would be of great utility and value.
Methodologies for testing embedded content addressable memories

A design strategy is presented for efficient and comprehensive testing when the address, data, and bit lines are not externally controllable or observable. Three algorithms are developed for testing common functional faults in content-addressable memories. One provides a novel method for detecting pattern-sensitive faults over a neighborhood size of nine and thereby tests a w-word content addressable memory in 33w+2b+64 operations, where b is the number of bits in a word. The algorithm is significantly more efficient than other embedded procedures for testing pattern-sensitive faults. Two additional simple algorithms are given for testing embedded content-addressable memories for stuck-at and adjacent-cell coupling faults. >
Existence of equilibrium in abstract economies with discontinuous payoffs and non-compact choice spaces

This paper proves the equilibrium existence for abstract economies with non-compact infinitedimensional strategy spaces, infinitely many agents, and discontinuous payolT (utility) functions by using the quasi-variational inequality approach. The motivations come from economic applications showing that payoff functions are discontinuous in many cases and the set of feasible allocations generally is not compact in a given topology of the commodity space, a typical situation in infinite dimensional vector space. It will be noted that our results also extend a foundational quasi-variational inequality by relaxing the compactness and concavity conditions. Thus many existence theorems in the quasi-variational inequalities literature can also be generalized by our results. In this paper we deal mainly with the problem of the existence of the social equilibrium in abstract economies with discontinuous payoff functions, non-compact infinite-dimensional strategy space, and infinitely many agents. The abstract economy defined by Debreu (1952) generalizes an iv-person Nash noncooperative game in that a player’s strategy set depends on the strategy choices of all the other players and can be used to prove the existence of competitive equilibrium since the market mechanism can be regarded as an abstract economy [cf. e.g., Arrow and Debreu (1954)]. Debreu (1952) proved the existence of equilibrium in abstract economies with finitely many agents and finite-dimensional strategy spaces by assuming the existence of continuous utility functions. Since Debreu’s seminal work on abstract economies, many existence results have been given in the literature. Shafer and Sonnenschein (1975) extended Debreu’s results to abstract economies
Cortical blindness and visual imagery

Controversy exists concerning the neural basis underlying visual imagery.Some propose that visual images evoked from memory are mediated by primary visual cortices. Others argue that these primary visual areas perform computations on elementary visual features when constructing visual representations from retinal input but that they are not activated during recall of these representations. The visual imagery abilities of patients with cortical blindness may resolve this controversy. The proposition that primary visual cortex is necessary for visual imagery predicts that a cortically blind subject9s inability to perceive visual stimuli would be accompanied by an inability to image visually. Our investigations of three patients with cortical blindness provide strong evidence that primary visual cortices are not essential for the mediation of visual images recalled from memory. NEUROLOGY 1995;45: 2189-2195
Sapphire Anniversary Reflections on the Study of United States Foreign Policy Towards Africa

The creation in 1958 of a separate Bureau of African Affairs within the United States State Department served as a turning point in US foreign policy towards Africa, in that it signalled Africa's growing significance within the US policymaking establishment. This historical event has served as a point of reference for Africanists, as demonstrated by Crawford Young's (1984) ‘silver’ (25-year) anniversary reflections on the state of US Africa policies as president of the African Studies Association. The primary purpose of this essay is to provide ‘sapphire’ (45-year) anniversary reflections on US foreign policy towards Africa, by offering a select review of forty books that have been published on this topic during the last decade (1993–2002). It is important to note, however, that this essay does not provide a comprehensive review of all the books published since 1993, nor does it offer a comprehensive review of the literature published prior to that date. The intention is rather to illuminate trends in scholarship.
Multiple-Input Single-Output Closed-Loop Isometric Force Control Using Asynchronous Intrafascicular Multi-Electrode Stimulation

Although asynchronous intrafascicular multi-electrode stimulation (IFMS) can evoke fatigue-resistant muscle force, a priori determination of the necessary stimulation parameters for precise force production is not possible. This paper presents a proportionally-modulated, multiple-input single-output (MISO) controller that was designed and experimentally validated for real-time, closed-loop force-feedback control of asynchronous IFMS. Experiments were conducted on anesthetized felines with a Utah Slanted Electrode Array implanted in the sciatic nerve, either acutely or chronically (n = 1 for each). Isometric forces were evoked in plantar-flexor muscles, and target forces consisted of up to 7 min of step, sinusoidal, and more complex time-varying trajectories. The controller was successful in evoking steps in force with time-to-peak of less than 0.45 s, steady-state ripple of less than 7% of the mean steady-state force, and near-zero steady-state error even in the presence of muscle fatigue, but with transient overshoot of near 20%. The controller was also successful in evoking target sinusoidal and complex time-varying force trajectories with amplitude error of less than 0.5 N and time delay of approximately 300 ms. This MISO control strategy can potentially be used to develop closed-loop asynchronous IFMS controllers for a wide variety of multi-electrode stimulation applications to restore lost motor function.
Evidence for a regime shift after the 1997-1998 El Niño, based on 1995, 1998, and 2001 acoustic surveys in the Pacific Eastern Boundary Current

Increasing physical oceanographic evidence suggests that a regime shift, which featured increased equatoward surface winds and upwelling in the Eastern Pacific Boundary Current region, occurred following the 1997–1998 El Nino. We expect the signal of this change in biota to be stronger in euphausiids than in pelagic fishes such as Pacific hake (Merluccius productus) because lower trophic levels are more responsive to changes in upwelling and primary production. We used acoustic backscatter data from acoustic surveys in summer 1995, 1998, and 2001 to explore whether significant changes in abundance and distribution of euphausiids and fishes have occurred between 1995 and 2001. Graphical and statistical results show that the density of fish schools and euphausiid patches increased significantly south of Cape Blanco between 1995 and both 1998 and 2001. North of Cape Blanco there was no consistent change in euphausiid abundance, although both fish and euphausiid distributions in 2001 appear to be significantly higher nearshore than in the other years. Pelagic fish abundance distributions appeared more closely linked to El Nino than to regime shifts, with abundance shifted much farther north in 1998, an El Nino year, than in the other years, while 1995 and 2001 fish abundance distributions are similar to each other. The regime shift appears so far to have had a stronger effect on euphausiids than on pelagic fishes. The change in euphausiid abundance and distribution between the survey years was linked, through a conceptual model, to the relative strength of the poleward flowing California undercurrent and equatorward flowing California current and to the distribution and abundance of hake.
Rebuttal to the Comments of Lyle F. Albright on “Kinetic Analysis of Isobutane/Butene Alkylations over Ultrastable H−Y Zeolite”

Sir: We appreciate Professor Albright’s interest in our work (Simpson et al., 1996). His letter makes one valid criticism of our analysis of the product distribution and raises many insupportable concerns which can be traced to his assumption that the product distribution and dominant pathways in zeolite-catalyzed alkylation should be the same as those for the sulfuric acid-catalyzed reaction. We disagree with Professor Albright on his claim that our kinetic analysis is flawed. We respond below to each of the points raised by him.
Valenzisomere aromatischer Systeme

Zur Klassifizierung von Valenzisomeren wird das Prafix χn vorgeschlagen, wobei n den Unterschied der Ringzahl oder der Anzahl π-Bindungen bedeutet. Zur χ1-Reihe gehoren z. B. Dewar-Benzol und 9,10-Dihydronaphthalin, die auf Grund geometrischer und stereoelektronischer Uberlegungen synthetisiert werden konnten. Benzvalen und Prisman sind Vertreter der χ2− bzw. χ3− Reihe.
A Decision-Analytic Approach to Reliability-Based Design Optimization

Reliability-based design optimization is concerned with designing a product to optimize an objective function, given uncertainties about whether various design constraints will be satisfied. However, the widespread practice of formulating such problems as chance-constrained programs can lead to misleading solutions. While a decision-analytic approach would avoid this undesirable result, many engineers find it difficult to determine the utility functions required for a traditional decision analysis. This paper presents an alternative decision-analytic formulation that, although implicitly using utility functions, is more closely related to probability maximization formulations with which engineers are comfortable and skilled. This result combines the rigor of decision analysis with the convenience of existing optimization approaches.
Contradicting a myth: good turbo codes with large memory order

The purpose of this paper is to contradict a common myth about turbo codes. We are specifically addressing R=1/3 parallel-concatenated codes using systematic, recursive constituent codes. Myth: Turbo codes consisting of constituent codes with large memory order (i.e., a large number of trellis states) are not as effective as the original Berrou-Glavieux-Thitimajshima turbo code (1993) in the waterfall region of small signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs). This myth is contradicted by a turbo code whose recursive constituent codes have 256 states. Decoding this turbo code with the BCJR APP decoder gives bit-error-rate (BER) and frame-error-rate (FER) performance better than the original (Berrou) turbocode at all SNRs.
A pen-based toolkit for authoring collaborative language activities

Hybrid paper-digital interfaces enabled by digital pens are a promising approach for supporting collaborative language, communication, and socialization activities. Digital pens enhance interaction with traditional paper content by playing and recording audio and recognizing handwriting and gestures. Currently, generating custom interactive paper documents involves some programming, limiting its use by many user groups (e.g., educators and families) who might especially benefit from application of hybrid paper-digital interfaces in their practices. To address this need, we developed an end-user Toolkit for Authoring Pen and Paper Language Activities (TAP & PLAY). End-users are able to quickly create custom interactive materials to support collocated interaction between children, teachers, and family members.
Modeling fault tolerant architectures with design diversity for secure systems

Modern critical systems are facing an increasingly number of new security risks. Nowadays, the extensive use of third-party components and tools during design, and the massive outsourcing overseas of the implementation and integration of systems parts, augment the chances for the introduction of malicious system alterations along the development lifecycle. In addition, the growing dominance of monocultures in the cyberspace, comprising collections of identical interconnected computer platforms, leads to systems that are subject to the same vulnerabilities and attacks. This is especially important for cyber-physical systems, which interconnect cyberspace with computing resources and physical processes. The application of concepts and principles from design diversity to the development and operation of critical systems can help palliate these emerging security challenges. This paper defines and analyzes models of fault tolerant architectures for secure systems that rely on the use of design diversity. The models are built using minimal extensions to classical architectures according to a set of defined failure classes for secure services. A number of metrics are provided to quantify fault tolerance and performance as a function of design diversity. The architectures are analyzed with respect to the design diversity, and compared based on the undetected failure probability, the number of tolerated and detected failures, and the performance delay.
System-Centric Minimum-Time Paths for Battery-Powered Vehicles in Networks with Charging Nodes

Abstract We study the routing problem for vehicle flows through a road network that includes both battery-powered Electric Vehicles (EVs) and Non-Electric Vehicles (NEVs). We seek to optimize a system-centric (as opposed to user-centric) objective aiming to minimize the total elapsed time for all vehicles to reach their destinations considering both traveling times and recharging times for EVs when the latter do not have adequate energy for the entire journey. Extending prior work where we considered only EVs entering the network, we formulate the problem by grouping all vehicles into a set of “subflows”and provide solutions based on both a Mixed Integer Non-Linear Programming (MINLP) approach and an alternative flow optimization problem. Since the problem size increases with the number of subflows, its proper selection is essential to render the problem manageable, thus reflecting a trade-off between proximity to optimality and computational effort needed to solve the problem. We propose a criterion and procedure leading to a “good” choice for the number of subflows.