cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Moisture Damage and Its Relation to Surface Adsorption/Desorption of Rejuvenators

This paper uses a multi-scale approach to study the preferential surface adsorption of bio-based rejuvenators to siliceous substrates, used here as surrogates for mineral stones like quartz in bitu...
"They Try and Break Us but They Can't": The Cultural Ethos Youth of Color Engage and Rely on to Persevere and Navigate Racial Stressors in the U.S. Public Education System.

This study aimed to identify factors that contributed to adaptive coping young people of color engage and rely on to navigate racial stressors in the public education system and to persist into col...
Spectroscopic response theory with classical mapping Hamiltonians.

Exact quantum dynamics with a time-independent Hamiltonian in a discrete state space can be computed using classical mechanics through the classical Meyer–Miller–Stock–Thoss mapping Hamiltonian. In order to compute quantum response functions from classical dynamics, we extend this mapping to a quantum Hamiltonian with time-dependence arising from a classical field. This generalization requires attention to time-ordering in quantum and classical propagators. Quantum response theory with the original quantum Hamiltonian is equivalent to classical response theory with the classical mapping Hamiltonian. We elucidate the structure of classical response theory with the mapping Hamiltonian, thereby generating classical versions of the two-sided quantum density operator diagrams conventionally used to describe spectroscopic processes. This formal development can provide a foundation for new semiclassical approximations to spectroscopic observables for models in which classical nuclear degrees of freedom are introduced into a mapping Hamiltonian describing electronic states. Calculations of the temperature-dependence of two-dimensional electronic spectra for an exciton dimer using two semiclassical approaches are compared with benchmark calculations using the hierarchical equations of motion method.
Humanism’s Necessary Integration with Capitalism: Further Remarks on Brunello Cucinelli’s Philosophy of Clothes

Brunello Cucinelli is the founder of an eponymous line of high-end, luxury fashion apparel and accessories. As surprising as it sounds at first blush (and perhaps surprisingly incongruous), Cucinelli has a long-standing interest in and devotion to humanistic strains of thinking as they are found globally, but especially in the West, and more specifically emerging out of Italy and the native regions familiar to his birthplace, Umbria. Thus, Benedict of Norcia and Francis of Assisi can be singled out both for their physical proximity to Solomeo (the site of Cucinelli’s headquarters and factory) and for their intellectual support of his cultivated application of their teaching to his type of humanistic management. In this chapter, I aim to provide an update on current trends and techniques in Cucinelli’s business practice, one that emphasizes stewardship, philanthropy, and the dignity of labor—all practiced within the context of a lively, profit-driven capitalist enterprise.
How to stop using gadolinium chelates for magnetic resonance imaging: clinical-translational experiences with ferumoxytol

Gadolinium chelates have been used as standard contrast agents for clinical MRI for several decades. However, several investigators recently reported that rare Earth metals such as gadolinium are deposited in the brain for months or years. This is particularly concerning for children, whose developing brain is more vulnerable to exogenous toxins compared to adults. Therefore, a search is under way for alternative MR imaging biomarkers. The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved iron supplement ferumoxytol can solve this unmet clinical need: ferumoxytol consists of iron oxide nanoparticles that can be detected with MRI and provide significant T1- and T2-signal enhancement of vessels and soft tissues. Several investigators including our research group have started to use ferumoxytol off-label as a new contrast agent for MRI. This article reviews the existing literature on the biodistribution of ferumoxytol in children and compares the diagnostic accuracy of ferumoxytol- and gadolinium-chelate-enhanced MRI. Iron oxide nanoparticles represent a promising new class of contrast agents for pediatric MRI that can be metabolized and are not deposited in the brain.
Major Issues in Cognitive Aging

1. Relations between Age and Cognitive functioning 2. Within-Person and Across-Time Comparisions 3. Approaches to Investigating Cognitive Aging 4. Mediators and Moderators of Cognitive Aging 5. Normal and Pathological Cognitive Aging in Late Adulthood 6. Practical Consequences and Potential Interventions
DNA methylation patterns in cancer: novel prognostic indicators?

DNA methylation is an epigenetic phenomenon influencing the normal function of DNA and its scaffolding proteins. Especially in cancer, aberrant methylation patterns may contribute to the disease process by the induction of point mutations, activation of inactive genes through hypomethylation of promoters, and transcriptional inactivation through a complex interplay with histone acetylation and other inhibitory mechanisms. Aberrant methylation patterns have been evaluated as tools in the management of patients with cancer. The predictive value, the therapeutic manipulation and the prognostic significance of aberrantly methylated gene loci have been tested in hematological as well as in solid neoplasias in adults and children. A seemingly insurmountable wealth of data has been generated, however, data on clinical associations are sometimes presented in an almost incautious fashion. Nevertheless, some genes like p15INK4B in myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and p16INK4A in some lung cancer subtypes have been shown to confer a certain prognosis. In selected cases the data have been confirmed by independent studies. Assays have been developed that can be used by almost any clinical laboratory (e.g. methylation-specific PCR) for the rapid and affordable screening of tumors for aberrant methylation. The study of aberrant methylation patterns has successfully entered the arena of relevant clinical applications. Importantly, methylation does not only hold the potential for being 'just another' biomarker, but also, as it can be reverted chemically, it is a phenomenon that holds great promise for therapeutic exploitation.
Sperm Immobilizing Activity of a Synthetic Bioactive Peptide 20–44 of 37‐kDa Cationic Antimicrobial Protein (CAP37) of Human Neutrophils

We have previously reported that human sperm coincubated with human peripheral blood neutrophils in the presence of complement (C)-fixing antisperm antibody (ASA)-positive sera are rapidly internalized and degraded within the neutrophil phagolysosome. However, the mechanism by which motile sperm are processed within the phagolysosome is unknown. Various spermicidal/antimicrobial proteins contained in azurophilic granules that can be secreted into the phagolysosome may play a role in sperm disposal. In this study, we examined the expression of a 37-kDa cationic antimicrobial protein (CAP37) during sperm phagocytosis and the effect of its synthetic bioactive fragment, Peptide 20-44 (P20-44), on sperm motility, acrosomal integrity, and mitochondrial functionality. CAP37 expression by neutrophils undergoing ASA- and C-dependent sperm phagocytosis was increased as measured by flow cytometry. Exposure of motile sperm to a cationic P20-44, the bioactive antimicrobial fragment of CAP37, resulted in the loss of sperm motility without disruption of the acrosomal membrane. The sperm immobilizing activity (SIA) of P20-44 was modulated by the length of incubation, the concentration of the peptide, and the pH of the assay medium. SIA induced by P20-44 was partially reversible and was unaffected by the presence of anionic heparin or seminal plasma. Similar to the antimicrobial activity of P20-44, the SIA was also dependent on the presence of a disulfide bond between cysteine residues at positions 26 and 42 and was inhibited by Lipid A. However, the mechanism of action of P20-44 on sperm is not totally dependent on the molecule's cationicity, because five other cationic antimicrobial peptides had no detectable effect on sperm viability. Thus, the mechanism of action of P20-44 on human sperm is different from its cationic antibactericidal effect. These findings established that motile human sperm are sensitive to CAP37 or its synthetic bioactive peptide and suggested that this protein could play a role in neutrophil-mediated immune destruction of sperm in the female genital tract. P20-44 of CAP37 may be useful in investigating the regulation of human sperm motility and to construct "hybrid peptides" with enhanced potency as a component of vaginal contraceptive that could doubly be effective by killing infectious agents and inhibiting sperm transport.
P3: Priority based proactive prediction for soon-to-fail disks

Predicting soon-to-fail (STF) disks is fundamental to keeping disk data safe and enforcing quality of service. Most current proactive prediction approaches achieve high prediction rate at the cost of high false alarm rate, labeling healthy disks as STF, because of the imbalanced fraction of failed disks in the training dataset and the characteristics of the machine learning (ML) techniques used. Given the known fact that healthy disks far outnumber STF disks, high false alarm rate means that more healthy disks than the actual STF disks maybe labeled as STF and results in undue waste of resources such as network bandwidth and new disks. The cumulative number of false alarms can be even larger considering that the prediction is taken periodically. This paper presents a priority based proactive prediction algorithm for STF disks (or P3), which leverages a combination of ML models. The predictor takes the attributes of the self monitoring facility (SMART) of all disks as input and outputs predicted STF disks. Compared to existing approaches, P3 can achieve lower false alarm rate, which is important to efficiently schedule resources for disk data and service migration. The tradeoff is slight decrease in prediction rate, which is negligible because the prediction is made periodically and reactive prediction can be employed as backup. In an evaluation on a population of 7,018 disks with Weka, the predictor can predict 112 out of the 130 failed disks with 36 false alarms. Compared with the state-of-art ML models that predict 122 failed disks with 34 false alarms, P3 is able to predict 113 failed disks with 7 false alarms.
Recurrent inhibitory connexions among neck motoneurones in the cat.

1. Intracellular recordings were made from motoneurones innervating neck muscles in the cat. Dorsal roots were cut and muscle nerves electrically stimulated to activate alpha motor axons. 2. Recurrent inhibitory post-synaptic potentials (i.p.s.p.s) evoked by antidromic volleys in homonymous or heteronymous nerves were found in the majority of motoneurones studied, including those to dorsal neck muscles (biventer cervicis, splenius and complexus) as well as to occipitoscapularis and levator scapulae ventralis. 3. Central latencies of the recurrent i.p.s.p.s indicate disynaptic transmission. Amplitudes ranged from 100 microV (criterion level) to 2.2 mV. Average amplitudes were less than 0.6 mV. 4. The recurrent i.p.s.p.s were distributed to non-synergistic as well as to synergistic motoneurones. Analysis of relative strength of recurrent inhibition indicates influence of proximity of motoneurone pools, functional relatedness of muscles, as well as other factors. Variation in intrinsic motoneuronal properties probably underlies positive correlations (independent of variation in resting potential) between recurrent i.p.s.p.s evoked from different sources in motoneurones of a single pool. 5. Recordings (mainly extracellular) were also made from interneurones (Renshaw cells), located in the C3 and C4 segments of the spinal cord, that were excited by antidromic volleys in muscle nerves. The response varied from a single action potential to a burst of up to nineteen action potentials. Central latencies to the first response indicate monosynaptic transmission. Many Renshaw cells were excited by antidromic volleys in several muscle nerves, though this was restricted to nerves of the same segmental level as the Renshaw cell. All the muscle nerves studied were effective in activating Renshaw cells. 6. The results indicate that in many ways the recurrent i.p.s.p.s and the responses of Renshaw cells recorded in the neck segments resemble those in the hind-limb segments. Thus, the basic organization of recurrent inhibition in the neck segments resembles that occurring elsewhere in the spinal cord. A difference is the tendency for recurrent i.p.s.p.s in neck motoneurones to be relatively small in amplitude and Renshaw cell responses to be less strong than those recorded in the hind-limb segments. It is suggested that this is related to the segmentation of neck muscles and their motoneurone pools. 7. It is concluded that recurrent inhibition is a prominent feature of spinal organization governing neck muscles. It can therefore be expected to participate in control of head movements.
Dysphoria and somatization in Iranian culture.

Abstract Iranians express dysphoria through an undifferentiated term called narahati, meaning depressed, ill at ease, nervous, inconvenienced, or anxious. People try masking this emotion or express it in specific ways nonverbally, such as sulking or not eating. Two other dysphoric affects, sadness and anger, are not masked. Because of the social conception of persons being emotionally sensitive, the expression of narahati is guarded: expressing it not only could show that one is socially vulnerable, it could also make another sensitive empathic person narahat. The body is also sensitive, but to the physical world. Physical health is maintained by balancing a diet of "hot" and "cold" foods and avoiding exposure to cold and moisture. With the social and cultural problems brought on by revolution, war, immigration, and accommodation to a new society, Iranian refugees experience changes in family, role, status, finances, language, and other sociocultural ways of being that cause them to feel narahat and to express it verbally, nonverbally, or through somatization. Understanding Iranian conceptions of emotional and physical sensitivity will help clinicians in treating Iranian patients.
Prenyl group identification of rap2 proteins: a ras superfamily member other than ras that is farnesylated

Rap proteins comprise a subset of the large family of ras-related proteins. They contain the C-terminal tetrapeptide sequence motif Cys-Ali-Ali-Xaa (Ali is an aliphatic amino acid and X is any amino acid), which has been found to be the site of membrane attachment via isoprenylation for ras, nuclear lamins and the gamma subunits of the heterotrimeric G-proteins. To investigate the isoprenylation of rap2a and rap2b, human cDNAs coding for these proteins were expressed in COS cells incubated in the presence of [3H]mevalonolactone. Both proteins incorporated a product of [3H]mevalonolactone, as judged by Western blot analysis. To identify the specific isoprenoid attached to each protein, the cDNAs were transcribed in vitro and the rap2 specific RNA was translated in a rabbit reticulocyte lysate system in the presence of [3H]mevalonolactone. The translation products were treated with methyl iodide and the released isoprenoid groups were analysed by h.p.l.c. Rap2b, which terminates in Cys-Val-Ile-Leu, is geranylgeranylated as predicted while rap2a, which terminates in Cys-Asn-Ile-Gln, incorporated farnesyl. A mutant construct generated by site-directed mutagenesis of rap2a cDNA yielding a protein terminating in leucine instead of glutamine incorporated geranylgeranyl, lending further support to the notion that isoprenoid specificity is governed by the terminal amino acid. In addition, when the CAAX motif cysteine at position 180 of rap2a was replaced by a serine residue no isoprenoid incorporation was observed. Thus rap2a and rap2b, despite showing 90% sequence identity, incorporate different isoprenoid groups. Thus glutamine is a signal for farnesylation, and rap2a is the first non-ras member of the ras superfamily that is farnesylated.
Approach to Peripheral Nerve Disorders

Peripheral neuropathies are common and often seen and evaluated in neuromuscular clinics. A large number of these disorders are metabolic, immune-mediated, or genetic in nature. This renders the diagnostic evaluation of patients with these neuropathies more complex and challenging. This chapter provides a structured approach to make an etiologic and cost-effective diagnosis of peripheral neuropathy.
Automatic finite element grid generation in electromagnetics

An automatic two-dimensional finite-element grid generator, which would greatly assist in improving preprocessing operations, and geometry handling, for electromagnetic field computations is presented. The algorithm developed iteratively triangulates a set of points, defining a field region, into optimal finite-element meshes. The mathematical procedures used in developing the algorithm is based on the concept of Delaunay triangulation and variational principles. The main objective of this algorithm is to efficiently reconstruct complicated field regions in terms of a set of points, known to the user, and generate optimal finite-element grids. The algorithm would also assist in preparing the geometrical and material characteristic-field regions to obtain numerical solutions. The algorithm is executed interactively. >
Evidence for Microheterogeneity in the Structure of Human Glucocorticoid Receptors

The human glucocorticoid receptor has been selectively affinity labeled with [3H]dexamethasone mesylate by utilizing whole cells to form complexes of steroids and receptors. The nonspecific interaction of [3H]dexamethasone mesylate [[3H]9α-fluoro-16α-methyl-11β,17α,21-trihydroxy-l,4-pregnadiene-3,20-dione-21-mesylate ([3H]DM)] with proteins containing sulfhydryl groups has been minimized by incubation of intact HeLa S3 cells with 1 × 10−8 m [3H]DM at 0 C before preparation of cytosol fractions. Under these conditions, which result in the labeling of 30% of the total cellular receptor, [3H]DM binds to a single protein that has a mol wt of about 88,000. Four lines of evidence suggest that this protein, with a molecular mass of approximately 88,000 represents the glucocorticoid receptor. 1) [3H]DM binding is saturable. 2) Glucocorticoids and progesterone, but not estradiol or testosterone, compete with [3H]DM for binding with the 88,000-dalton protein. 3) The sedimentation behavior of the glucocorticoid rece...
AFM Images of Outer Hair Cells' Lateral Plasma Membrane: An Autocorrelation Function Analysis

Our atomic force microscopic study of the cytosolic surface of outer hair cells' lateral plasma revealed images of membrane particles with tip-geometry- corrected diameter of ∼10 nm [1], consistent with 10-nm particles reported by earlier EM studies. These particles were aligned preferentially in one direction and a much weaker alignment consistent with hexagonal packing. The immunoreactivity of these particles to prestin-antibody revealed that these particles involve prestin, a member of the SLC26 family of anion transporters associated with electromotility of outer hair cells. This observation together with reports that prestin forms tetramers consistent with the dimension of these 10-nm particles prompts a question: Are 10-nm particles tetramers of prestin? To address this question, we examined autocorrelation function of AFM images for the detailed structure of these particles. If the slice plain of the peak is adjusted to the dimension that matches the particles, the contours should reveal shapes of the particle. We found the contour at the corresponding height is approximately square, consistent with tetramer symmetry. However, the maximum width of the central peak corresponded to ∼8.2 nm, somewhat smaller than the size of the particles obtained by section analysis. This difference can be attributed to blurring effect of noise. In summary, our observation is consistent with a hypothesis that 10-nm particles are prestin tetramers.[1] Organization of membrane motor in outer hair cells: an atomic force microscopic study, G. Sinha, F. Sabri, E. Dimitriadis, K. Iwasa, Pfugers Archiv European J. of Physiology, 2009.
The Effect of Gravity Compensation on Growth and Cell Wall‐loosening Enzymes in Helianthus annuus Hypocotyls

The effect of gravity compensation by the clinostat on the elongation, weight, and activity of two cell wall-loosening enzymes (cellulase and β-1,3-glucanase) in Helianthus annuus hypocotyls was examined. Gravity compensation increases elongation (28.1 %) and weight (18.3 %). The activity of cellulase extracted from the apical sections is raised, but there is no significant effect on β-1,3-glucanase. The relationship between gravity compensation, changes in auxin level, and function of these two enzymes in respect to elongation is discussed.
Inversion symmetric initial data for N charged black holes

The initial value equations for gravitational and electric fields on a multiply connected manifold are addressed. The manifold considered represents two physically identical asymptotically flat universes with N throats connecting them. Matching conditions for the fields are derived for the case of a conformally flat maximal (but not time-symmetric) initial slice. A formal solution incorporating these conditions is given in terms of a simple geometric algorithm, and the method is applied to give explicit expressions for the background electric field of two oppositely charged bodies. Unlike previous methods, this procedure is general enough to allow arbitrary a priori specification of charge, angular momentum, and linear momentum for any number of separate charged moving bodies.
Flow in Porous Media II: The Governing Equations for Immiscible, Two-Phase Flow

The Stokes flow of two immiscible fluids through a rigid porous medium is analyzed using the method of volume averaging. The volume-averaged momentum equations, in terms of averaged quantities and spatial deviations, are identical in form to that obtained for single phase flow; however, the solution of the closure problem gives rise to additional terms not found in the traditional treatment of two-phase flow. Qualitative arguments suggest that the nontraditional terms may be important whenμβ/μγ is of order one, and order of magnitude analysis indicates that they may be significant in terms of the motion of a fluid at very low volume fractions. The theory contains features that could give rise to hysteresis effects, but in the present form it is restricted to static contact line phenomena.
The cloning of a family of genes that encode the melanocortin receptors

Melanocyte-stimulating hormone (MSH) and adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) regulate pigmentation and adrenal cortical function, respectively. These peptides also have a variety of biological activities in other areas, including the brain, the pituitary, and the immune system. A complete understanding of the biological activities of these hormones requires the isolation and characterization of their corresponding receptors. The murine and human MSH receptors (MSH-Rs) and a human ACTH receptor (ACTH-R) were cloned. These receptors define a subfamily of receptors coupled to guanine nucleotide-binding proteins that may include the cannabinoid receptor.
Implications of Spread Rate and Temperature Measurements in Flame Spread Over a Thin Fuel in a Quiescent, Microgravity, Space-Based Environment

Abstract Results and analysis of the data acquired in an experiment on laminar flame spreading at microgravity conducted on a recent Space Shuttle mission are presented. In the experiment, a thin fuel (ashless filter paper) was burnt in a quiescent environment in a 50% O2/50% N2 mixture at a total pressure’ of 152 kPa (1·5 atm). The entire experiment from ignition to extinction was recorded using two 16 mm cine-cameras, and the temperature of the fuel surface and at two locations in the gas phase were measured using Pt/Pt-Rh thermocouples. The flame spread rate was found from a frame-by-frame analysis of the film. The spread rate and temperature measurements are used to extract information on the fuel pyrolysis process and the different modes of heat transfer between the gas and the solid phase. Analysis of the experimental data and close inspection of the film reveal the following: i) Unlike normal gravity flames, the microgravity flame shows significant radiative heat transfer between the gas and the so...
Stability Analysis for a Consensus System of a Group of Second Order Dynamics with Time Delays

Abstract This study addresses the consensus problem for a group of agents with second order dynamics and time delays. It is assumed that all the agents in the group communicate with each other, and that the time delay incurred is constant and equal for all the communication channels. An efficient control structure of PD type is proposed to create consensus in the position and velocity of the agents. The proposed control law introduces a particular construction into the characteristic equation of the system, which is exploited to simplify the stability analysis in the delay space. A complete stability picture, taking into account the variations in the control parameters and the communication delay, is obtained. Case studies and simulations results are presented to verify the analytical derivations.
History of TBE vaccines

Tick borne encephalitis was a frequent viral CNS disease in Europe in the last century, with several hundred hospitalisation cases per year. The causative agent is tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV), a flavivirus that is transmitted by ticks. The first tissue culture derived vaccine was developed in the early 1970s and this was commercialised as a collaboration between the Institute of Virology, Vienna, Austria and Immuno AG Vienna (now Baxter Healthcare). This vaccine was highly successful during the last thirty years and its use resulted in a significant reduction in the incidence of disease in central Europe, particularly Austria. A number of modifications have been made to the manufacturing process and formulation of this vaccine over this period and a second manufacturer has also entered the market. This article describes the development and modification of these vaccines over this time frame, and illustrates the efficacy of the vaccine in preventing this severe CNS disease.
Disorder in ferroelectrics: Relaxation effects

Abstract A model of a displacive ferroelectric in which phonons couple to local excitations which are associated with disorder is used to discuss the effects of relaxation of the disorder excitations on the low frequency dielectric constant, on the quasi-elastic response, and on the nuclear spin-lattice relaxation.
Pituitary Adenylate Cyclase Activating PolyPeptide

PACAP is a member of the pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP)/glucagon superfamily …
Experimental Investigation of Convoluted Contouring for Aircraft Afterbody Drag Reduction

An experimental investigation was performed in the NASA Langley 16-Foot Transonic Tunnel to determine the aerodynamic effects of external convolutions, placed on the boattail of a nonaxisymmetric nozzle for drag reduction. Boattail angles of 15 and 22 were tested with convolutions placed at a forward location upstream of the boattail curvature, at a mid location along the curvature and at a full location that spanned the entire boattail flap. Each of the baseline nozzle afterbodies (no convolutions) had a parabolic, converging contour with a parabolically decreasing corner radius. Data were obtained at several Mach numbers from static conditions to 1.2 for a range of nozzle pressure ratios and angles of attack. An oil paint flow visualization technique was used to qualitatively assess the effect of the convolutions. Results indicate that afterbody drag reduction by convoluted contouring is convolution location, Mach number, boattail angle, and NPR dependent. The forward convolution location was the most effective contouring geometry for drag reduction on the 22 afterbody, but was only effective for M < 0.95. At M = 0.8, drag was reduced 20 and 36 percent at NPRs of 5.4 and 7, respectively, but drag was increased 10 percent for M = 0.95 at NPR = 7. Convoluted contouring along the 15 boattail angle afterbody was not effective at reducing drag because the flow was minimally separated from the baseline afterbody, unlike the massive separation along the 22 boattail angle baseline afterbody.
RNA and DNA sequence recognition and structure-function of aminoacyl tRNA synthetases

Abstract Aminoacyl tRNA sythesases establish the rules of the genetic code through specific protein-RNA interactions which may have a covalent component. Structural features of these enzymes are now emerging and recently it was discovered that genes can be regulated through synthetase-DNA interactions.
Science Trade Books and Buddies: Involving 3rd-Graders in Informational Texts

Teachers are often faced with the challenges of infusing informational texts in the curriculum and helping students comprehend them. These texts require adequately developed background knowledge and understanding of content-specific vocabulary. The authors of this article present their 3rd-grade reading project—the Book Buddy Program—developed to address some of the challenges by creating opportunities for student choice and collaboration. The findings of the study indicate a positive effect of informational texts on students' reading achievements, as they can potentially increase involvement in informational reading as well as students' college readiness. The findings also have implications for teaching reading in linguistic settings other than English.
LARES: An Artificial Chemical Process Approach for Optimization

This article introduces a new global optimization procedure called LARES. LARES is based on the concept of an artificial chemical process (ACP), a new paradigm which is described in this article. The algorithm's performance was studied using a test bed with a wide spectrum of problems including random multi-modal random problem generators, random LSAT problem generators with various degrees of epistasis, and a test bed of real-valued functions with different degrees of multi-modality, discontinuity and flatness. In all cases studied, LARES performed very well in terms of robustness and efficiency.
A comparison of energetic storm protons to halo protons

Satellite observations of solar proton events with a ‘halo’ structure or an energetic storm proton event and an SSC are studied. It is pointed out that some SSC events are associated with a decrease in the few MeV cosmic ray fluxes while most are associated with a flux increase. The properties of halo protons and energetic storm protons are compared. It is hypothesized that the two events are similar in origin. The propagation mode of storm particles is discussed. Evidence is presented for a solar, rather than interplanetary origin of storm protons.
Observation ofΛc+ decays to Λπ+π0, Σ0π+, Σ0π+π0, and Σ0π-π+π+

Abstract We have observed the previously unseen decay modes Λπ+π0, Σ0π+π0 and Σ0π−π+π+ of the charmed baryon Λc+, as well as Λc+→Σ0π+ observed previously by ARGUS. The branching ratios for these four decay modes relative to Λc+→pK−π+ are measured to be 0.73 ±0.09± 0.16, 0.36 ±0.09±0.10, 0.21±0.05±0.05, and 0.21±0.02 ±0.04, respectively. Using the recent CLEO measurement of the branching ratio for Λc+→pK− π+, these modes account for 6% of Λc+ decays.
Influence of Irrigation on Overwinter Survival of the Pink Bollworm

Winter survival of Pectinophora gossypiella (Saunders) was studied in relation to timing of irrigation treatments, with applications ranging from January 5 to May 10, 1967, including a nonirrigated control and 2 methods of larval burial. Of 4200 larvae buried at the 6-in. soil depth, only 1.3% survived. No significant differences existed among irrigation treatments, but larval survival was significantly greater in buried bolls than in buried, free cocoons. Moth emergence appeared to be related to soil moisture and compaction. Approximately 75% of the moth emergence was suicidal, and significantly more males than females survived.
Efficient, uninformative sampling of limb-darkening coefficients for a three-parameter law

Stellar limb darkening affects a wide range of astronomical measurements and is frequently modelled with a parametric model using polynomials in the cosine of the angle between the line of sight and the emergent intensity. Two-parameter laws are particularly popular for cases where one wishes to fit freely for the limb darkening coefficients (i.e. an uninformative prior) due to the compact prior volume and the fact that more complex models rarely obtain unique solutions with present data. In such cases, we show that the two limb darkening coefficients are constrained by three physical boundary conditions, describing a triangular region in the two-dimensional parameter space. We show that uniformly distributed samples may be drawn from this region with optimal efficiency by a technique developed by computer graphical programming: triangular sampling. Alternatively, one can make draws using a uniform, bivariate Dirichlet distribution. We provide simple expressions for these parametrizations for both techniques applied to the case of quadratic, square-root and logarithmic limb darkening laws. For example, in the case of the popular quadratic law, we advocate fitting for q1 � (u1 + u2) 2 and q2 � 0.5u1(u1 + u2) 1 with uniform priors in the interval [0,1] to implement triangular sampling easily. Employing these parametrizations allows one to derive model parameters which fully account for our ignorance about the intensity profile, yet never explore unphysical solutions, yielding robust and realistic uncertainty estimates. Furthermore, in the case of triangular sampling with the quadratic law, our parametrization leads to significantly reduced mutual correlations and provides an alternative geometric explanation as to why naively fitting the quadratic limb darkening coefficients precipitates strong correlations in the first place.
Low levels of vitamin D are common in patients with ileal pouches irrespective of pouch inflammation.

Abstract Background Vitamin D (25(OH) D3) levels in pouch patients are not well defined. Aim To evaluate the frequency and factors associated with low 25(OH) D3 levels in pouch patients with underlying inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Methods A consecutive of 157 pouch patients was identified from our Pouchitis Registry. A sample of 155 ulcerative colitis (UC) patients without IPAA served as controls. Results The mean age of the cohort was 37.5 ± 14.2 years, with 86 (54.8%) being female. Low 25(OH)D3 levels ( 31 ng/mL), no differences were identified in terms of demographic, pouch, and medication variables. A low hemoglobin level was found to be associated with low 25(OH) D3 levels in both univariate (p = 0.02) and multivariate analyses (odds ratio [OR] = 3.37; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.41–8.06; p = 0.01). Low levels of 25(OH)D3 was not related to markers of pouch inflammation, in particular there was no relation to pouchitis (OR = 1.20; 95% CI: 0.41–3.52; p = 0.74). Conclusion Low 25(OH)D3 level was common in this cohort, irrespective of inflammation of the pouch, possibly suggesting a strategy of routine testing in this population. Anemia was found to be associated with a low 25(OH)D3 level.
Cult, Countenance, and Community: Donor Portraits from the Colonial Andes

The article outlines the nature of the donor portrait, including its origins in Europe and its manifestations in Spanish colonial Peru. Then it considers three paintings featuring donor portraits and the miraculous statue known as Christ of the Earthquakes (El Senor de los Temblores). An introduction to the original statue, housed in the Cathedral of Cusco, and its cult is provided. Then the portraits are analyzed for the ways in which they express both similarity and difference. On one hand, the works served to unite the donors as pious Christians within the wider devotional community of Cusco; on the other hand, the works’ details served to distinguish and differentiate the donors based on their particular social and ethnic identities.
Profiling the subjective, psychomotor, and physiological effects of tramadol in recreational drug users

Abstract Tramadol is a mu opioid agonist that also inhibits the reuptake of norepinephrine and serotonin. Because non-medical use of prescription opioids, including tramadol, has increased in the U.S. over the last several years, we sought to profile its subjective, psychomotor, and physiological effects in recreational drug users. Twenty-two subjects received placebo, 50 or 100 mg tramadol, morphine, or 2 mg lorazepam in a randomized, crossover, double-blind design. The last 12 subjects in the study received 25 mg morphine, a dose that is putatively equianalgesic to 100 mg tramadol. In these subjects, morphine induced miosis and several other mu agonist subjective effects; 100 mg tramadol increased “feel drug effect” and drug liking ratings, and decreased pupil size, but the miotic effect was not statistically significant. Lorazepam, but neither tramadol nor morphine, impaired psychomotor performance. When the placebo, tramadol, and lorazepam data from all 22 subjects were analyzed, 100 mg tramadol induced miosis, and several subjective effects were increased significantly, including ratings of drug liking and “want to take again.” The present results indicating that a clinically-prescribed dose of oral tramadol has abuse liability-related effects in recreational drug users suggest the need for further abuse liability testing of the oral formulation in opioid abusers.
Some complexities in the reaction of hydrogen atoms generated in H2 discharge with molecular chlorine

The kinetics of the reaction H + Cl 2 → HCl + Cl has been studied in the very low-pressure reactor (VLPR) system at 298 K using two different H atom generation sources. The first one is the microwave decomposition of HCl giving k 1 = (8.66 ′ 0.18) x 10 - 1 2 cm 3 /(molecule-s). No traces of HCl(v) excited product side reaction could be found in the system due to the much longer residence time in the reactor than the spontaneous decay of excited HCl. The second H atom source is the microwave decomposition of H 2 . This technique produces 5% H 2 (v) which initiates the reaction Cl + H 2 (v) → HCl + H, hydrogen atom recovery and the quenching reaction, H + H 2 (v) → H 2 + H. They are identified by differences in the HCl and Cl yields, as well as from the extra H 2 consumption. Rate constants k 2 = (2.88 ′ 0.13) x 10 - 1 1 and k t r = (2.95 ′ 0.17) × 12 - 1 2 cm 3 /(molecule-s) are measured along with excellent mass balances between reactant consumption and product formation. Consideration of the high value found for k t r leads to the conclusion that its mechanism is by atom transfer rather than collisional deactivation. Both rate constants agree well with the corresponding A-factors reported for thermal reactions indicating that the vibrational excitation energy of H 2 (v) provides the activation energies of the thermal reactions.
Empirical Study on the Merit of Web-Based 4D Visualization in Collaborative Construction Planning and Scheduling

This paper reports an empirical study that tested the usefulness of Web-based four-dimensional (4D) construction visualization in collaborative construction planning and scheduling. Several recent construction projects have employed 4D visualization to better understand the construction schedule and make proactive decisions to prevent logical errors in the construction sequence. Other groups have shown that construction information management with asynchronous Web-based communication can improve decision making among dispersed industry practitioners. It seems reasonable to anticipate that combining 4D visualization with Web-based information management would facilitate dispersed industry practitioners to make collaborative decisions for construction planning and scheduling. The empirical study presented here reports how experiment participants at separate locations collaboratively detected logical errors in a construction schedule when the 4D visualization model of the schedule was represented on the Web browser. Our results show that teams using 4D models detected logical errors more frequently, faster, with fewer mistakes, and with less team communication, than teams using 2D drawings and bar charts. These findings show industry practitioners empirical evidence that Web-based 4D construction visualization can improve team collaboration on construction planning and scheduling.
Assuring space shuttle orbiter subcontractor compliance with the NASA new technology clause

NASA's Charter demands that innovations arising from the agency's work receive the widest possible dissemination to bring about a transfer of the technology to the public welfare. This Spinoff from the Space Program is now a predictable event because of analyses done over the years by NASA and economists. However, the initial identification of innovations must be done through disclosures from NASA, prime contractor and subtier contractor employee innovators. Although NASA provides innovators with nominal cash awards for published innovations and inventions, a problem exists for NASA in assuring that all valuable innovations and inventions get promptly identified, reported and disseminated. This paper describes the technique developed by NASA's prime contractor for Shuttle Orbiter (Rockwell Space Division), which has successfully captured over 1200 innovations for NASA-JSC. Aspects of the Program described include the contract requirements, motivational techniques, results, problems, and a discussion of the results. An order of magnitude increase in innovation reporting resulted from Rockwell's activities primarily accomplished using an inexpensive four-step process implemented at about 200 subcontractor's facilities.
Plasmids of serogroup 1 strains ofLegionella pneumophila

Twelve strains ofLegionella pneumophila were tested for the presence of plasmid DNA. Three strains, belonging to serogroup 1, had large plasmids of 83.8×106 daltons, as determined by electron microscopy. A fourth strain, also from serogroup 1, had a similar large plasmid in addition to a smaller plasmid. Restriction analysis of plasmid DNA isolated from the strains with a single size plasmid indicated that the plasmids were structurally very similar. The biologic functions of these plasmids are yet to be determined.
Reliability and predictors of resistive load detection in children with persistent asthma: a multivariate approach.

AbstractObjective: Resistive load detection tasks enable analysis of individual differences in psychophysical outcomes. The purpose of this study was to determine both the reliability and predictors of resistive load detection in children with persistent asthma who completed multiple testing sessions. Methods: Both University of North Carolina (UNC) Charlotte and Ohio University institutional review boards approved the research protocol. The detection of inspiratory resistive loads was evaluated in 75 children with asthma between 8 and 15 years of age. Each child participated in four experimental sessions that occurred approximately once every 2 weeks. Multivariate analyses were used to delineate predictors of task performance. Results: Reliability of resistive load detection was determined for each child, and predictors of load detection outcomes were investigated in two groups of children: those who performed reliably in all four sessions (n = 31) and those who performed reliably in three or fewer sessi...
Determination of seven biogenic amines in foods by micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography

Abstract Micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography was applied to the separation of seven biogenic amines, most frequently occurring in foods. Putrescine, cadaverine, spermidine, spermine, tryptamine, histamine and tyramine were separated as N-substituted benzamides using an uncoated fused-silica capillary column (43 cm×75 μm I.D.). Borate buffer (15 mM) with sodium dodecylsulphate (40 mM) and methanol (25%, v/v) was found to be a suitable system for the determination of these compounds in food samples. The detection limits in the range of 0.2 to 0.7 mg l−1 are sufficient for this type of sample.
Explorations with the Hale Telescope

The 200-inch telescope has performed much as Hale had hoped and predicted. Most of the programs he listed have made large advances. A very few have run into unforeseen difficulties. On the other hand, important breakthroughs have occurred along lines of which Hale had no inkling. If Hale were with us today I believe he would be content with the results of the great adventure he started.
“Cognitive Efficiency” in Display Media: A First Investigation of Basic Signal Dimensions

In many work domains, such as aviation cockpits and hospital operation rooms, data overload can result when a human operator is unable to make efficient use of his/her limited cognitive resources in processing task-relevant data. One way to address this problem is to design displays that communicate data in a mentally economical way, either by increasing the information content, or decreasing the demand on cognitive resources. This paper introduces a metric – “Cognitive Efficiency” (CE) – expressed as a ratio of display informativeness to resource demand, which can be used to compare the effectiveness of various display types for a given task environment. The present study explored CE ratios for basic visual and auditory displays modulated by either the intensity or spectral properties (e.g., hue, pitch) of the light/sound signal. Among other findings, the results showed that visual displays are more efficient than auditory displays when more information content is present, and spectral modulation is more...
Single-element assessment of conditioned inhibition

Conditioned inhibition was observed in a flavor conditioning setting. All groups received excitatory trials in which a coffee taste and environmental cues were paired with toxicosis. Experimental groups also received inhibitory trials in which the conditioned excitatory cues were followed 0, 5, or 15 min later by exposure to a vinegar solution. Controls experienced this sequence with a 24 h interval. While conventional tests of inhibition usually assess the inhibitor’s effects on some excitatory stimulus, this experiment tested vinegar preference in the absence of an excitatory context. All three experimental groups preferred vinegar more than controls did. Moreover, there was a nonsignificant trend toward increased vinegar preferences as the interval separating the excitatory cue and the vinegar cue was increased from 0 to 15 min. These results are important because they (1) demonstrate that a flavor conditioned inhibitor may be tested directly, as excitors are usually tested, and (2) suggest that temporal factors may be important in the development of conditioned inhibition.