cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Fire history from soil charcoal in a mixed hardwood forest on the Cumberland Plateau, Tennessee, USA1

Abstract In this study, we documented the presence of macroscopic (> 2 mm) charcoal, quantified charcoal mass, and radiocarbon-dated charcoal macrofossils in 10 soil cores to develop a coarse-resolution fire history for a mixed hardwood forest on the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee. Macroscopic charcoal occurred in all 10 soil cores. Total dry mass of macroscopic charcoal varied by core and by depth layer. Charcoal fragments were most abundant in two non-adjacent cores (separated by ca. 80 m), a finding that may be evidence of a patchy fire regime in the study area. AMS radiocarbon dating of the five deepest charcoal samples indicated that the earliest recorded fire in the study site occurred around 6735 cal yr BP (calibrated years before 1950). Charcoal in surface soils was not dated but one deep sample indicated a fire during the historic period at approximately 174 cal yr BP. No overlap occurred within the 2-sigma calibrated age ranges of the dated charcoal samples, indicating a minimum of five separat...
Nonequilibrium Parametric Pumps

Abstract A nonequilibrium continuous pump was experimentally investigated using the model system NaCl-H2O on an ion exchanger. A simple method for predicting separation is presented and is found to be in good agreement with experimental results. The criterion for approach to equilibrium operation, where large separations are possible, is also established.
Evaluation of the Q Score and Q234 Systems for Cost-Effective and Clinically Relevant Interpretation of Wound Cultures

The Q score and Q234 systems were compared to our current protocol for interpreting wound cultures. The Q score and Q234 systems were more cost effective than our current method, with the Q234 system being considered the most useful protocol for implementation by both the laboratory and our clinicians.
Effects of Abrupt vs Gradual Weaning on Cortisol and Immune Function Responses of Foals1

This study evaluated the effects of two weaning methods on cortisol and peripheral blood leukocyte (PBL) population of foals. Twelve mare-foal pairs were randomly assigned to abrupt weaning (AW) or gradual weaning (GW) treatments. Foals were weighed on d –30, –23, –16, –9, –2, 7, and 12 relative to weaning (d 0). The activity levels of foals were measured at 12-h intervals. Plasma cortisol was measured daily through d 5. On d 0, 1, 3, and 5, PBL were counted, and lymphocytes were cultured in a proliferation assay. Average daily gain declined (P<0.05) post-weaning, but did not differ between treatments. Cortisol and activity did not differ between treatments, but activity was elevated (P<0.05) for both treatments at 12, 72, and 108 h post-weaning. Total neutrophil (P<0.05) and white blood cell counts (P<0.01) were greater for foals on the AW treatment on d 0, 1, and 3, but there were no treatment effects on lymphocyte proliferation to phytohemagglutinin (PHA) or pokeweed mitogens (PWM). A day × treatment interaction for Concanavilin A (Con A)-stimulated proliferation revealed a greater (P<0.01) response in foals on the AW treatment on d 1. No treatment differences were observed in the percentage of cells staining positive for lymphocyte markers. Yet, the percentage of B cells was greatest (P<0.001) on d 3. We concluded that foals on the AW and GW treatments showed similar decreases in ADG and similar cortisol response to weaning. Immune function immediately post-weaning, based on measures obtained in this study, did not seem to be affected greatly by weaning method.
Analytical Performance Modeling for Null Message-Based Parallel Discrete Event Simulation

This paper presents a new analytical performance analysis for null message-based parallel discrete event simulation(PDES). Our analysis builds upon the key operation of selecting simulation events for processing in the null message algorithms. The results not only explain the well-known facts of how the look ahead capability of individual simulation processes (called logical processes, or LPs) affect the simulation performance, but also reveals quantitatively how the look ahead, the communication topology, the computation and communication delays, and the flow control mechanism affect the simulation performance. We first show that all of the LPsin a strongly connected component in the communication topology asymptotically progress at the same speed, regardless of their individual characteristics and their share of computation resource. Second, we derive an analytical upper bound on the simulation performance. The derivation shows that the ratio between the sum of the look ahead and the sum of the event processing and communication delays of LPs in a cycle bounds the simulation speed from the above, and the cycle of LPs imposes the tightest upper bound becomes the bottleneck of the simulation. We conduct a series of simulation experiments to empirically validate our findings. Moreover, we show that by using the derived upper bound as an optimization guidance, we improve the partitioning of a simple parallel simulation example and achieve a four times speedup against the same simulation based on a classic min-cut partitioning strategy.
Urologic Complications of Diabetes

Diabetes and urologic diseases are very common health problems that markedly increase in prevalence and incidence with advancing age (1–3). Diabetes is associated with an earlier onset and increased severity of urologic diseases, resulting in costly and debilitating urologic complications. Urologic complications, including bladder dysfunction, sexual and erectile dysfunction, as well as urinary tract infections (UTIs), have a profound effect on the quality of life of men and women with diabetes. This review presents a comprehensive overview of the current understanding of clinical and basic research on urologic complications of diabetes and recommendations for future directions for research and clinical care. Over 50% of men and women with diabetes have bladder dysfunction (4,5). Current understanding of bladder dysfunction reflects a progressive condition encompassing a broad spectrum of lower urinary tract symptoms including urinary urgency, frequency, nocturia, and incontinence. Previously, the dysfunction has been classically described as diminished bladder sensation, poor contractility, and increased postvoid residual urine, termed bladder cystopathy (6). However, bladder cystopathy most likely represents end-stage bladder failure with symptoms of infrequent voiding, difficulty initiating voiding, and postvoid fullness and is relatively uncommon. A number of clinical studies in men and women with diabetes have reported bladder instability or hypersensitivity as the most frequent finding, ranging from 39–61% of subjects (5,7). Diminished bladder contractility or sensation has been found less often (5), and an acontractile bladder appears to be quite uncommon. ### Bladder dysfunction in women In women, urinary incontinence is estimated to affect nearly 50% of middle aged and older women, leading to significant distress, limitations in daily functioning, and poorer quality of life (8,9). Diabetes has been identified as an important independent risk factor for incontinence in several large observational studies, including the Nurses’ Health Study, and is associated with 30–100% increased risk (9 …
Regulation of Phosphodiesterase 3 and Inducible cAMP Early Repressor in the Heart

Growing evidence suggests that multiple spatially, temporally, and functionally distinct pools of cyclic nucleotides exist and regulate cardiac performance, from acute myocardial contractility to chronic gene expression and cardiac structural remodeling. Cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterases (PDEs), by hydrolyzing cAMP and cyclic GMP, regulate the amplitude, duration, and compartmentation of cyclic nucleotide-mediated signaling. In particular, PDE3 enzymes play a major role in regulating cAMP metabolism in the cardiovascular system. PDE3 inhibitors, by raising cAMP content, have acute inotropic and vasodilatory effects in treating congestive heart failure but have increased mortality in long-term therapy. PDE3A expression is downregulated in human and animal failing hearts. In vitro, inhibition of PDE3A function is associated with myocyte apoptosis through sustained induction of a transcriptional repressor ICER (inducible cAMP early repressor) and thereby inhibition of antiapoptotic molecule Bcl-2 expression. Sustained induction of ICER may also cause the change of other protein expression implicated in human and animal failing hearts. These data suggest that the downregulation of PDE3A observed in failing hearts may play a causative role in the progression of heart failure, in part, by inducing ICER and promoting cardiac myocyte dysfunction. Hence, strategies that maintain PDE3A function may represent an attractive approach to circumvent myocyte apoptosis and cardiac dysfunction.
The Influence of Relatedness, Neighbourhood and Overall Distance on Colony Mate Recognition in a Polydomous Ant

The ‘dear enemy phenomenon’ predicts that territorial animals respond less aggressively towards more familiar neighbours than towards unfamiliar conspecifics if potential losses to strangers are more costly than potential losses to neighbours. Conversely, territorial animals should respond more aggressively to neighbours, if potential losses to them are more costly than potential losses to strangers. In social insects the question of how colony members distinguish neighbours from strangers, however, is intertwined with the more general question of how colony members discriminate themselves from non-colony members; both genetic and spatial distance can correlate with levels of inter-colonial aggression. In this paper I disentangle the role of experience, genetic and spatial distance on inter-colonial aggression in a polydomous population of Iridomyrmex purpureus. In I. purpureus, aggression is related to the spatial distance between colonies irrespective of genetic similarity. Spatial distance affected aggression in two different ways. First, workers were more likely to exhibit aggression towards alien conspecifics of adjoining rather than non-adjoining territories, suggesting the opposite of the dear enemy phenomenon. Second, workers were more often aggressive towards conspecifics of more distant colonies, implying that environmental cues play a role in the recognition system of I. purpureus.
In vivo relationship between marrow T2* and trabecular bone density determined with a chemical shift—selective asymmetric spin-echo sequence

Maguetic field inhomogeneities due to differences in susceptibility between trabecular bone and bone marrow result in a reduction in T2*. The authors previously quantified the relationship between the relaxation rate enhancement per unit change in bone density, Δ*, using dried, excised vertebral bodies immersed in saline. In the present study, they investigated the precision and reproducibility of such measurements in vitro and found that the short-term precision ranges from 2% to 11%, while the longterm precision error, which may be governed by the placement of the region of interest, can vary up to 50%. A chemical shift—selective asymmetric spin-echo sequence was used to assess T2* changes in the saturated fat component of bone marrow in vivo. It was shown that the marrow fat relaxation rate increases as the surrounding trabecular bone density increases and that the Δ* of the marrow fat component was 0.20 sec −1/mg/cm3. The results also indicate that the distribution of T2* varies with image resolution. Both in vitro and in vivo, characteristics of the relaxation time distribution such as the mean, standard deviation, and skewness decrease as image resolution decreases, the degree of variation depending on the density of the surrounding trabecular network.
A logic level design methodology for a secure DPA resistant ASIC or FPGA implementation

This paper describes a novel design methodology to implement a secure DPA resistant crypto processor. The methodology is suitable for integration in a common automated standard cell ASIC or FPGA design flow. The technique combines standard building blocks to make 'new' compound standard cells, which have a close to constant power consumption. Experimental results indicate a 50 times reduction in the power consumption fluctuations.
The Prose Quantification System for Evaluating the Creative Quality of Prose: a Construct Validation Study

This study investigated the validity of the Prose Quantification System (PQS) as a method of evaluating the creative quality of prose. PQS story- starters (opening story lines) and the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT) were ad ministered to 141 fifth-grade students. Completed PQS stories were: (a) rated for creativity by 10 teachers and (b) scored by 9 raters trained to use the PQS and 4 raters trained to use the Carlson Scale for Measuring the Originality of Children's Stories. Stepwise multiple regression analysis in dicated that the Carlson Scale, PQS, and TTCT scores accounted for significant amounts of variance in teachers' creativity ratings. PQS in terrater agreement was .81; intrarater stability co efficients ranged from .84 to .94. Mixed factorial ANOVAs indicated two equivalent forms of the PQS.
Relationship of Sympathetic Activity to Bone Microstructure, Turnover, and Plasma Osteopontin Levels in Women

Context: Studies in rodents have demonstrated that sympathetic activity reduces bone formation and bone mass; these effects are mediated by the noncollagenous matrix protein, osteopontin. Objective: The objective of the study was to relate sympathetic activity (measured using microneurography at the peroneal nerve) to bone microstructure (assessed by high resolution peripheral quantitative computed tomography), bone turnover, and plasma osteopontin levels. Design, Setting, and Patients: Twenty-three women aged 20–72 yr (10 premenopausal and 13 postmenopausal) were studied in the Clinical Research Unit. Results: Sympathetic activity (bursts per 100 heart beats) was 2.4-fold higher in postmenopausal as compared with premenopausal women (P < 0.001). In the two groups combined and after age adjustment, sympathetic activity was inversely correlated with trabecular bone volume fraction (r = −0.55, P < 0.01) and thickness (r = −0.59, P < 0.01) and positively correlated with trabecular separation (r = 0.45, P < 0...
Temperament and Social Problem Solving Competence in Preschool: Influences on Academic Skills in Early Elementary School

The goals of the current study were to examine whether children's social problem solving (SPS) skills are a mechanism through which temperament influences later academic achievement and whether sex moderates these associations. Participants included 1,117 children enrolled in the NICHD Early Child Care Study. During preschool, mothers and childcare providers rated children's temperamental shyness and inhibitory control, and SPS was assessed using a hypothetical-reflective measure during a laboratory visit. During kindergarten and first grade, teacher-report of math and language skills was collected. Results indicated that high ratings of inhibitory control in preschool, but not shyness, predicted better kindergarten and first grade academic skills. Furthermore, children's SPS competence mediated the relations between both shyness and inhibitory control on later academic skills. The child's sex did not moderate these associations. Results suggest that preventative efforts targeting early SPS skills may buffer against later academic adjustment problems among temperamentally extreme children.
Non-equilibrium Thermodynamic Issues Related to On-demand Systems

Results from past research and research recently initiated are presented here in order to illustrate the need for a multi-fidelity (higher- and reduced-order) dynamic modeling, simulation, and optimization capability that results in aircraft subsystem integrations that minimize waste heat generation and reduce overall system energy requirements across a range of mission profiles. The examples presented provide a basis for the work envisioned as well as illustrations of the non-equilibrium thermodynamic effects of unsteady or transient operation on aircraft synthesis/design and operation. The three examples given involve i) the mission-integrated synthesis/design optimization of an advanced tactical aircraft system with a focus on its transient fuel loop subsystem, ii) the effects of mission segment discretizations on capturing the dynamics of a scram-jet hypersonic vehicle mission on vehicle performance, and iii) the effects of unsteady aerodynamics on flight vehicle operation.
Fine-Mapping of IL16 Gene and Prostate Cancer Risk in African Americans

Background: Prostate cancer (Pca) is the most common type of cancer among men in the United States, and its incidence and mortality rates are disproportionate among ethnic groups. While genome-wide association studies of European descents have identified candidate loci associated with Pca risk, including a variant in IL16, replication studies in African Americans (AAs) have been inconsistent. Here we explore SNP variation in IL16 in AAs and test for association with Pca. Methods: Association tests were performed for 2,257 genotyped and imputed SNPs spanning IL16 in 605 AA Pca cases and controls from Washington, DC. Eleven of them were also genotyped in a replication population of 1,093 AAs from Chicago. We tested for allelic association adjusting for age, global and local West African ancestry. Results: Analyses of genotyped and imputed SNPs revealed that a cluster of IL16 SNPs were significantly associated with Pca risk. The strongest association was found at rs7175701 (P=9.8 x 10-8). In the Chicago population, another SNP (rs11556218) was associated with Pca risk (P=0.01). In the pooled analysis, we identified three independent loci within IL16 that were associated with Pca risk. SNP eQTL analyses revealed that rs7175701 is predicted to influence the expression of IL16 and other cancer related genes. Conclusion: Our study provides evidence that IL16 polymorphisms play a role in Pca susceptibility among AAs. Impact: Our findings are significant given that there has been limited focus on the role of IL16 genetic polymorphisms on Pca risk in AAs.
A Research Agenda.

This chapter provides a framework and questions for developing a research design to improve college guides and ratings.
Atmospheric Wind Retrievals from Satellite Soundings over the Middle- and High-Latitude Oceans

Abstract A technique that uses satellite-based surface wind and temperature soundings for deriving three-dimensional atmospheric wind fields is developed for climate studies over the middle- and high-latitude oceans. In this technique, the thermal wind derived from the satellite soundings is added to the surface wind to obtain a first-guess, nonmass-conserved atmospheric wind profile. Then a Lagrange multiplier in a variational formalism is used to force the first-guess wind to conserve mass. Two mass conservation schemes are proposed. One is to use the meridional mass transport conservation equation as a constraint to derive the meridional wind first, and then the vertically integrated mass conservation equation is used to infer the zonal wind. The zonal and meridional winds are obtained separately in this approach. The second scheme is to use the vertically integrated mass conservation equation as a constraint to retrieve the zonal and meridional winds simultaneously from the first-guess field. Temperat...
A Logic Programming Playground for Lambda Terms, Combinators, Types and Tree-based Arithmetic Computations

With sound unification, Definite Clause Grammars and compact expression of combinatorial generation algorithms, logic programming is shown to conveniently host a declarative playground where interesting properties and behaviors emerge from the interaction of heterogenous but deeply connected computational objects. Compact combinatorial generation algorithms are given for several families of lambda terms, including open, closed, simply typed and linear terms as well as type inference and normal order reduction algorithms. We describe a Prolog-based combined lambda term generator and type-inferrer for closed well-typed terms of a given size, in de Bruijn notation. We introduce a compressed de Bruijn representation of lambda terms and define its bijections to standard representations. Our compressed terms facilitate derivation of size-proportionate ranking and unranking algorithms of lambda terms and their inferred simple types. The S and K combinator expressions form a well-known Turing-complete subset of the lambda calculus. We specify evaluation, type inference and combinatorial generation algorithms for SK-combinator trees. In the process, we unravel properties shedding new light on interesting aspects of their structure and distribution. A uniform representation, as binary trees with empty leaves, is given to expressions built with Rosser's X-combinator, natural numbers, lambda terms and simple types. Using this shared representation, ranking/unranking algorithm of lambda terms to tree-based natural numbers are described. Our algorithms, expressed as an incrementally developed literate Prolog program, implement a declarative playground for exploration of representations, encodings and computations with uniformly represented lambda terms, types, combinators and tree-based arithmetic.
A study on the use of polarized light in application to noninvasive tissue diagnostics.

..iii DEDICATION v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS vi TABLE OF CONTENTS vii LIST OF FIGURES xi LIST OF TABLES xiv CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Motivation for use of optics techniques 1 1.2 Skin structure 2 1.3 Skin cancer 5 1.4 Optical modalities 7 1.5 Polarized light imaging 8 1.6 Organization of the dissertation 10 CHAPTER II: THEORY AND AUTOMATED MUELLER MATRIX IMAGING SYSTEM 12 2.1 Theory 12 2.1.1 Polarized light and Stokes vector 12 2.1.2 Mueller matrix and Stokes vector Formulism 14
Economics as the Law

This Essay represents a version of a chapter in my forth coming book "Trust and Honesty, America's Business Culture at a Crossroad." In designing legal protection from breach of trust and deception lawyers and judges have not only used this branch of economics as an information source but also adopted its objectives in substitution of the law's objectives. The first issue in this Essay relates to the ways in which legal economics simplifies the world. This is the reasons for its attraction and rejection. The second issue in this Essay relates to the autonomy of the law. It raises a concern that the soul and mind of the law are lost in the jargon and approaches of this special form of "imperial economics." It suggests that the place of economics in law is the same as any other discipline. Economic objectives have a modest place in law just as the objectives of other disciplines have not.
Extreme multi-core, multi-network Java DataFlow Machine (JavaFlow)

JavaFlow, is an extreme multi-core, multi- network DataFlow Machine implementing a Java Virtual Machine aimed at addressing technology roadmap issues with the ability to effectively utilize and manage large numbers of processing cores. Specific design challenges addressed include: design complexity through a common set of repeatable structures; low power and reliability by featuring unused circuits and ability to power off or bypass sections of the chip; and clock propagation and wire limits by using locality to bring data to processing elements. A static Data Flow Architecture is used with multiple heterogeneous networks to connect processing elements capable of executing a single Java ByteCode instruction. Whole methods are cached in this DataFlow fabric, and the networks plus distributed intelligence are used for their management and execution. Analysis of SPEC JVM benchmarks demonstrates the potential for this design concept. A baseline configuration is defined with a compressed dataflow structure and then compared to multiple configurations of instruction assignments and clock relationships. Using a series of methods from the SPEC benchmark running independently, IPC (Instructions per Cycle) performance of the sparsely populated heterogeneous structure is 40% of the baseline. The average ratio of instructions to required nodes is 3.1. Innovative solutions to the loading and management of Java methods along with the translation from control flow to DataFlow structure are demonstrated.
Three-dimensional single molecule tracking of quantum-dot labeled antibody molecules using multifocal plane microscopy

Single molecule tracking in three dimensions (3D) in a live cell environment promises to reveal important new insights into cell biological mechanisms. However, classical microscopy techniques suffer from poor depth discrimination which severely limits single molecule tracking in 3D with high temporal and spatial resolution. We introduced a novel imaging modality, multifocal plane microscopy (MUM) for the study of subcellular dynamics in 3D. We have shown that MUM provides a powerful approach with which single molecules can be tracked in 3D in live cells. MUM allows for the simultaneous imaging at different focal planes, thereby ensuring that trajectories can be imaged continuously at high temporal resolution. A critical requirement for 3D single molecule tracking as well as localization based 3D super-resolution imaging is high 3D localization accuracy. MUM overcomes the depth discrimination problem of classical microscopy based approaches and supports high accuracy 3D localization of singe molecule/particles. In this way, MUM opens the way for high precision 3D single molecule tracking and 3D super-resolution imaging within a live cell environment. We have used MUM to reveal complex intracellular pathways that could not be imaged with classical approaches. In particular we have tracked quantum dot labeled antibody molecules in the exo/endocytic pathway from the cell interior to the plasma membrane at the single molecule level. Here, we present a brief review of these results.
The Fetus as a Patient

In the last 20 years, there has been an explosion of technology designed to diagnose fetal health. The purpose of this article is to review perinatal definitions, causes of perinatal morbidity and mortality, the efficacy of high-risk identification, and the most common and newer methods of fetal surveillance. There is a special emphasis on the predictive power and complications of the new technology.
The Becker Amendment: A Constitutional Trojan Horse

On June 25, 1962, in Engel v. VitaleJ the Supreme Court of the United States declared the New York Regents' Prayer to be in violation of the establishment clause of the First Amend ment to the Constitution of the United States. That date was immediately designated "Black Monday," implying that the Court, in arbitrary fashion, had thrown to the winds the nation's hard won and greatly treasured religious freedom. Sober re flection and study shows that what was originally regarded as a decision against religious freedom was in reality a decision for religious freedom. The Regents' Prayer—"Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon Thee, and we beg Thy blessings upon us, our parents, our teachers and our country"—was commissioned, adopted and promulgated for use in the public schools of New York by that state's highest educational authority, the State Board of Regents. Challenged by five families of varying re ligious faiths—Ethical Culture, Jewish, Unitarian—and of no religious faith, Engel v. Vitale went into the Reports of the United States Supreme Court thereafter to denote an excellent, if unconstitutional, example of government religion.2 The Supreme Court divided six to one in Engel v. Vitale. Justice Hugo Black, speaking for the Court, first demolished the argument that, although religious in nature, the Regents' Prayer was based on the "spiritual heritage" of the nation and was, therefore, without constitutional defect. By reviewing the history of the church-state relationship in England and the American colonies, Black demonstrated that the nation's spiri tual heritage, additionally if not primarily, demands separation of church and state for the benefit of both. The defenses of non denominational and non-compulsory were also unavailing. The
Transient Suppression of GABAA-Receptor–Mediated IPSPs After Epileptiform Burst Discharges in CA1 Pyramidal Cells

Le Beau, F.E.N. and B. E. Alger. Transient suppression ofGABAA-receptor–mediated IPSPs after epileptiform burst discharges in CA1 pyramidal cells. J. Neurophysiol. 79: 659–669, 1998. Epileptiform b...
Manufacturing process of chemical drug substances

"Guidance of manufacturing and structure elucidation for chemical drug substances" was tentatively interpreted herein by discussing certain typical phenomena occurred in chemical drug substances registration.
Time Adaptive Sketches (Ada-Sketches) for Summarizing Data Streams

Obtaining frequency information of data streams, in limited space, is a well-recognized problem in literature. A number of recent practical applications (such as those in computational advertising) require temporally-aware solutions: obtaining historical count statistics for both time-points as well as time-ranges. In these scenarios, accuracy of estimates is typically more important for recent instances than for older ones; we call this desirable property Time Adaptiveness. With this observation, [20] introduced the Hokusai technique based on count-min sketches for estimating the frequency of any given item at any given time. The proposed approach is problematic in practice, as its memory requirements grow linearly with time, and it produces discontinuities in the estimation accuracy. In this work, we describe a new method, Time-adaptive Sketches, (Ada-sketch), that overcomes these limitations, while extending and providing a strict generalization of several popular sketching algorithms. The core idea of our method is inspired by the well-known digital Dolby noise reduction procedure that dates back to the 1960s. The theoretical analysis presented could be of independent interest in itself, as it provides clear results for the time-adaptive nature of the errors. An experimental evaluation on real streaming datasets demonstrates the superiority of the described method over Hokusai in estimating point and range queries over time. The method is simple to implement and offers a variety of design choices for future extensions. The simplicity of the procedure and the method's generalization of classic sketching techniques give hope for wide applicability of Ada-sketches in practice.
ARM?? Floating Point Unit (FPU)

One of the most important differences between the Cortex ® -M4 MCU and Cortex ® -M3 MCU is that an optional Floating Point Unit (FPU) is added into the Cortex ® -M4 Core to enhance the floating-point data operations. The Cortex ®- M4 FPU implements the ARMv7E-M architecture with FPv4-SP extensions. It provides floating-point computation functionality that is compliant with the ANSI/IEEE Standard 754-2008, IEEE Standard for Binary Floating-Point Arithmetic. This chapter discusses the FPU element with a completed and detailed analysis for this unit. It describes three types of the floating point data formats, half-precision, single-precision, and double precision. The Cortex ® -M4 FPU fully supports single-precision floating-point data operations, which include the addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, multiplication and accumulation (MAA), and square root operations. For complete implementation of the IEEE 754-2008 standard, floating-point functionality must be cooperated with library run-time functions.
Multimodal thin layer chromatographic separation of bryostatins 1 and 2 from Bugula neritina extracts employing side-by-side silica gel/C18 plates

The separation of bryostatin 1 from bryostatin 2 and other compounds from Bugula neritina extracts using silica gel/C 18 side-by-side thin layer chromatography plates was accomplished. Visualization of bryostatins 1 and 2 was achieved by spraying with anisaldehyde reagent and heating in an oven at 110°C
Synthesis and Reactivity of Oxorhenium(V) Methyl, Benzyl, and Phenyl Complexes with CO: Implications for a Unique Mechanism for Migratory Insertion

The complexes [(DAAm)Re(O)(R)] [DAAm = N,N-bis(2-arylaminoethyl)methylamine; aryl = C6F5], 1, R = Me; 3a–d (R = benzyl, a; 4-methylbenzyl, b; 4-fluorobenzyl, c; 4-methoxybenzyl, d); and 4, R = Ph, were synthesized. CO insertion into the Re–R bond in 1 and 3a–d resulted in the formation of the acetyl complex, 2, and the (aryl)acetyl complexes, 5a–d respectively. The formation of 5a–d proceeded at a faster rate (7 h) than the formation of 2 (72 h) under the same conditions. No reaction was observed however for the phenyl complex 4 with CO. Kinetics for CO insertion into the various Re–R bonds were examined, and the experimental rate law was determined to be Rate = kobs[Re][CO]. The activation parameters for CO insertion into 1 and 3a were determined to be ΔG⧧(298 K) = 24(1). The enthalpy of activation ΔH⧧ was determined to be 9(1) and 10(3) kcal/mol for 1 and 3a, respectively, and the entropy of activation, ΔS⧧, was −49(2) and −36(4) cal/mol·K. Computational studies (M06) are consistent with the hypothesis ...
Superagonist, Full Agonist, Partial Agonist, and Antagonist Actions of Arylguanidines at 5-Hydroxytryptamine-3 (5-HT3) Subunit A Receptors.

Introduction of minor variations to the substitution pattern of arylguanidine 5-hydroxytryptamine-3 (5-HT3) receptor ligands resulted in a broad spectrum of functionally-active ligands from antagonist to superagonist. For example, (i) introduction of an additional Cl-substituent(s) to our lead full agonist N-(3-chlorophenyl)guanidine (mCPG, 2; efficacy % = 106) yielded superagonists 7–9 (efficacy % = 186, 139, and 129, respectively), (ii) a positional isomer of 2, p-Cl analog 11, displayed partial agonist actions (efficacy % = 12), and (iii) replacing the halogen atom at the meta or para position with an electron donating OCH3 group or a stronger electron withdrawing (i.e., CF3) group resulted in antagonists 13–16. We posit based on combined mutagenesis, crystallographic, and computational analyses that for the 5-HT3 receptor, the arylguanidines that are better able to simultaneously engage the primary and complementary subunits, thus keeping them in close proximity, have greater agonist character while t...
X-Culture: An International Project in the Light of Experience Gained over the Years (2010-2016)

The X-Culture project is an innovative modern form of experiential learning predominantly in International Management and International Business. Although experiential learning has some advantages, namely, developing cross-cultural competencies, cultural intelligence, intercultural communication and management skills, differences in personality or conditions also arise as a downside. X-Culture has been evolving throughout the years since 2010 when the original objective was to supplement the theoretical material and in-class teaching. Nowadays more than 4000 master, bachelor and MBA students, mostly of management and economics from more than 37 countries, take part in the project every semester. X-Culture is aimed at students of International Business college courses and training programs with the task of writing a business report or consulting propositions by offering business solutions for a hypothetical client. This paper outlines the theoretical background of the X-culture project. It describes the evolution and practical and theoretical experience of this project since 2010.
Eponymous and Honorary Medical Terms

Many diseases, syndromes, and other entities carry the names of persons, real and fictional. As human anatomy was explored, and as the afflictions of humankind came to be understood, many discoveries were named for those who first described them: Pott disease, Hutchinson pupil, Virchow node, and Charcot–Marie–Tooth disease are just a few. Yet, eponyms have their detractors, citing duplicate names, and even instances in which an inappropriate person was honored. This chapter provides the history of some of medicine’s favorite eponyms, including some little-known backstories of how the naming occurred.
Data mining in information technology and banking performance

Information technology (IT) has become the key enabler of business process expansion if an organization is to survive and continue to prosper in a rapidly changing business environment while facing competition in a global marketplace. In the banking industry, a large amount of IT budgets are spent with the expectation that the investment will result in higher productivity and improved financial performance. However, bank managers make decisions on how to spend large IT budgets without accurate performance measurement systems on the business value of IT. A survey on managing technology in the banking industry found that 55% of the 188 senior executives surveyed stated that the returns on their investments in IT were either good or excellent. However, 50% of the senior executives also stated that they did not have any formal systems in place to measure the return on investment. This illustrates a need for a proper data-mining technique that can examine the impact of IT investment on banking performance. It has been recognized that the link between IT investment and banking performance is indirect, due to the effect of mediating and moderating variables. This chapter presents a methodology that measures the efficiency of IT utilization and the impact of IT on banking performance when intermediate measures are present. A set of banks is used to illustrate how we (1) characterize the indirect impact of IT on banking performance, (2) identify the best practice of two principal value-added stages related to IT investment and profit generation, and (3) improve the financial performance of banking.
An evolutionary approach for supply chain management

This paper aims to provide a simple pragmatic approach for supply chain management, departing from the current mainstream chase on supply chain integration. We first summarise two dominant but opposite approaches, the decentralised traditional approach and the centralised supply chain management approach, each of which has its distinct strengths and obvious weaknesses. To take advantage of their strengths and overcome their weaknesses, an evolutionary approach is laid out by applying key insights of the theory of evolution - self-interest, adaptation, and natural cooperation, and of supply chain management - demand and supply evolution. We propose an evolutionary approach that integrates four rudimentary advantages: the organisation fulfils its own interest, the organisation is better adapted to its local environment, natural cooperation is built on direct reciprocity, and demand and supply evolution provides a differential preservation of interrelations between suppliers and buyers. A two-stage newsvendor game illustrates its practical implication, which confirms the evolutionary approach is a legitimate alternative to the current systems integration approach for supply chain management.
Impact of Gastric Acid Induced Surface Changes on Mechanical Behavior and Optical Characteristics of Dental Ceramics.

PURPOSE To test the impact of exposure to artificial gastric acid combined with toothbrush abrasion on the properties of dental ceramics. Earlier research has indicated that immersion in artificial gastric acid has caused increased surface roughness of dental ceramics; however, the combined effects of acid immersion and toothbrush abrasion and the impact of increased surface roughness on mechanical strength and optical properties have not been studied. MATERIALS AND METHODS Three commercially available ceramics were chosen for this study: feldspathic porcelain, lithium disilicate glass-ceramic, and monolithic zirconium oxide. The specimens (10 × 1 mm discs) were cut, thermally treated as required, and polished. Each material was divided into four groups (n = 8 per group): control (no exposure), acid only, brush only, acid + brush. The specimens were immersed in artificial gastric acid (50 ml of 0.2% [w/v] sodium chloride in 0.7% [v/v] hydrochloric acid mixed with 0.16 g of pepsin powder, pH = 2) for 2 minutes and rinsed with deionized water for 2 minutes. The procedure was repeated 6 times/day × 9 days, and specimens were stored in deionized water at 37°C. Toothbrush abrasion was performed using an ISO/ADA design brushing machine for 100 cycles/day × 9 days. The acid + brush group received both treatments. Specimens were examined under SEM and an optical microscope for morphological changes. Color and translucency were measured using spectrophotometer CIELAB coordinates (L*, a*, b*). Surface gloss was measured using a gloss meter. Surface roughness was measured using a stylus profilometer. Biaxial flexural strength was measured using a mechanical testing machine. The data were analyzed by one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey's HSD post hoc test (p < 0.05). RESULTS Statistically significant changes were found for color, gloss, and surface roughness for porcelain and e.max specimens. No statistically significant changes were found for any properties of zirconia specimens. CONCLUSIONS The acid treatment affected the surface roughness, color, and gloss of porcelain and e.max ceramics. The changes in translucency and mechanical strength for all materials were not statistically significant. Zirconia ceramic showed resistance to all treatments.
Addiction in the Community: The Role of Emergency Services

Emergency services are provided within our communities through ambulance corps. There is a need to understand what steps providers take when dealing with a patient who may be abusing substances, as well as the symptoms that may be presenting. A variety of factors must be taken into account when working with patients, including cultural, linguistic, lifestyle, and medical.
The 3.5-Å CryoEM Structure of Nanodisc-Reconstituted Yeast Vacuolar ATPase Vo Proton Channel.

The molecular mechanism of transmembrane proton translocation in rotary motor ATPases is not fully understood. Here, we report the 3.5-A resolution cryoEM structure of the lipid nanodisc-reconstituted Vo proton channel of the yeast vacuolar H+-ATPase, captured in a physiologically relevant, autoinhibited state. The resulting atomic model provides structural detail for the amino acids that constitute the proton pathway at the interface of the proteolipid ring and subunit a. Based on the structure and previous mutagenesis studies, we propose the chemical basis of transmembrane proton transport. Moreover, we discovered that the C terminus of the assembly factor Voa1 is an integral component of mature Vo. Voa1's C-terminal transmembrane α helix is bound inside the proteolipid ring, where it contributes to the stability of the complex. Our structure rationalizes possible mechanisms by which mutations in human Vo can result in disease phenotypes and may thus provide new avenues for therapeutic interventions.
Exploring the Dark Matter of Objectification

Objectification has been of particular concern to feminists in philosophy and in the social sciences. Nevertheless, objectification is a concept in need of theoretical development and refinement. This chapter focuses on the various definitions of objectification, both in terms of how it has been defined conceptually by philosophers and psychologists, and in terms of how it has been defined operationally in experimental research. A working definition of objectification is offered that distinguishes objectification from the two main pillars of social cognition, namely individuation and stereotyping. A perceiver’s focus on another’s body, their instrumentality for serving the perceiver’s own goals, and the lack of mind perception are all associated with objectification. Furthermore, the broad use of the term “objectification” to describe a diverse range of phenomena is problematic and suggests the need for greater differentiation of the concept. Three different forms of objectification are proposed, specifically social, asocial, and anti-social forms of objectification. The roles that instrumentality, power, mind perception, and body focus play in these forms of objectification are discussed. Finally, I discuss new avenues for moving forward in our collective investigation of objectification, with a particular emphasis on the social context and the social dynamics between the objectifying perceiver and the objectified target. It is the social context and the social dynamics between the person objectified and the person objectifying that are likely to determine whether or not objectification is experienced as dehumanization and has any deleterious effects.
Plant Covirus Systems: Two-Component Systems

The central concept concerning the viruses described in this chapter is that they have in common the following characteristic: the minimum genetic entity which can be derived from the virus, and which can induce an infection in which virions are formed, is two pieces of RNA. The two pieces of RNA, which can be considered to be the two chromosomes composing the genome of the virus, are (for the plant viruses described here) found in distinguishable ribonucleoprotein particles. That is, the genome is distributed in two kinds of virions. The notion of the extracellular phase of a virus life cycle being represented by “virions” rather than “virion” is generally alien to bacterial, animal, and fungal virology. However, probably nearly half of the recognized groups of plant viruses have virions rather than a virion. What advantage does such an arrangement give a plant virus? Why do such viruses find a niche which apparently has not been occupied by a monochromosomal, monovirion virus? A priori, the potential disadvantage of having to bring at least two particles or RNA molecules into a cell, rather than one, is most obvious.
Upstream process intensification and continuous manufacturing

Manufacturing process of biopharmaceuticals usually starts from culturing recombinant protein producing cells, predominately Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cells, in bioreactors. Currently, fed-batch cell culture process is the most common upstream process method due to its operational simplicity and industrial familiarity. Intensified cell culture process, enabled by perfusion and other technologies, offers many benefits over traditional fed-batch cell culture mode. In this review, we discuss the current state-of-art for upstream cell culture process intensification with a focus towards continuous manufacturing. We also explore key technical drivers and their roles in steering towards a more cost-effective and flexible upstream biomanufacturing.
The Production Of Helium In Cold Fusion Experiments

Abstract It is now known that cold fusion effects are produced mainly by certain palladium materials made under special conditions. Most palladium materials do not produce any excess heat, and no helium production is observed. The palladium used in our first 6 months of cold fusion experiments in 1989 at the China Lake Navy laboratory never produced any measurable cold fusion effects. Therefore, our first China Lake results were listed with CalTech, MIT, Harwell, and other groups reporting no excess heat effects in the DOE-ERAB report issued in November 1989. However, later research using special palladium made by Johnson-Matthey produced excess heat in every China Lake D2O-LiOD electrolysis experiment. Further experiments showed a correlation of excess heat with helium-4 production. Two additional sets of experiments over several years at China Lake verified these measurements. This correlation of excess heat and helium-4 production has now been verified by cold fusion studies at several other laboratories. Theoretical calculations using a new equation show that the amounts of helium-4 appearing in the electrolysis gas stream are in the parts-per-billion (ppb) range. The experimental amounts of helium-4 in our experiments gave reasonable agreement with the theoretical amounts. The helium-4 detection limit of 1 ppm (1000 ppb) reported by CalTech and MIT was far too insensitive for such measurements. Unusually large excess powers leading to the boiling of the electrolyte would be required in electrochemical cold fusion experiments to even reach a detection limit of 1000 ppb helium-4 in the electrolysis gas stream.