cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Virtual test of magnetization characteristics of switched reluctance motors

On view of the nonlinear characteristics of switched reluctance motors,the mathematical flux model of motor's phases is built.Taking LabVIEW as the program environment of virtual device,the measure plan of magnetization characteristics of switched reluctance motors is designed and tested.The result indicates that the measured value is contiguous to the theoretical value.
Current situation,hazards and response measures on abuse of some food additives in China

Based on the current situation of abuse of some common food addictives in China,it describes the potential hazards of preservatives,sulfur dioxide,sweeteners and leavening agent in this paper,especially the hazards of food additives on children. It also proposes the following countermeasures and suggestions:①to perfect the standard system of food additives;②to strengthen the research on safety of food additives;③to improve the response plan for public health emergencies caused by food addictive abuse; ④to guide the public opinions actively.
Explosive Enhancement of Permeability

The application of explosives to stimulate the permeability of oil and gas reservoirs and to increase the permeability for in situ processes has been proposed. Although explosives have been applied for these purposes for many years, a prediction capability does not exist and the physical processes have not been understood. The potential payoff of in situ recovery techniques in the mineral industry also lends urgency to the problem. The cost of extracting minerals using conventional methods is becoming increasingly expensive and the richer mineral deposits are being mined out.
Global Sensitivity Analysis for Uncertain Parameters, Models, and Scenarios

Sensitivity analysis has been used widely for model development and improvement in Earth and environmental sciences. Local sensitivity analysis is to identify important model parameters for a given set of parameter values (nominal values), whereas global sensitivity analysis is to identify important parameters when parameter values are not specified but vary in parameter space. This chapter first briefly introduces two widely used methods of GSA, i.e., the Morris method (a screening method) and the Sobol' method (a sampling-based method). The Sobol' method is always implemented using Monte Carlo (MC) approaches that are computationally demanding. This chapter discusses two numerically efficient methods that were recently developed for implementing the Sobol' method without using MC approaches. In general, the Morris and Sobol' methods and other global sensitivity methods are designed for a fixed model and modeling scenario, assuming that there is no uncertainty in model structure and modeling scenario. However, Earth and environmental systems are open and complex, rending them prone to multiple model structures and modeling scenarios. The model and scenario uncertainties raises the following two immediate questions to GSA. (1) Are the parameters important to one model still important to other models? (2) Are the parameters important under one modeling scenario still important under other modeling scenarios? GSA without considering model and scenario uncertainties may result in biased selection of important parameters, i.e., the identified important parameters based on a single model and a single scenario may not be important to the system of interest. This chapter introduces a recently developed method of GSA that integrates the Sobol' method into a hierarchical framework of quantifying uncertainty in model parameters, structures, and scenarios. An example application of the new method of GSA is presented in the context of environmental modeling, followed by a discussion of existing and potential applications of GSA to satellite data. Several perspectives for future research on GSA are given at the end of this chapter.
The Energy Balance Approach

The energy balance approach to geopotential modeling from satellite-to-satellite tracking offers the advantage of emulating an in-situ measurement system, analogous to satellite-borne gravity gradiometry, but in terms of differences in potential. Although the theoretical background is well known, based on the conservation of energy in celestial mechanics, its application to geopotential determination from satellite tracking had to await the capability for accurate, independent, kinematic orbit determination. This is now possible with Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), such as GPS. The precision tracking between two co-orbiting satellites brings additional short-wavelength information to the in-situ measurement. These tutorial notes derive the exact relationships between the gravitational potential and the orbital state vectors from the energy balance perspective, both in the inertial frame and in the Earth-fixed frame. Also derived are the equations that specifically incorporate the range-rate between co-orbiting satellites. Particular attention is given to the rotation potential and the temporal dependence of the potential due to various sources, including tidal variations, Earth’s orientation and deformation, and terrestrial mass fluxes. A detailed analysis of magnitudes then leads to possibly acceptable approximations. It also shows for a satellite configuration such as GRACE (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment) that the radial component of the relative velocity between two co-orbiting satellites is as important in magnitude as the along-track component. Thus, the measured inter-satellite range-rate, for example, cannot be used alone to determine the potential difference. However, it is also shown that the short-wavelength content of the potential resides more in the along-track component than in the radial component, which demonstrates the significance of the range-rate measurement. A simple error analysis of the system identifies the requirements for state-vector accuracies (both for position and velocity) in relation to the range-rate accuracy. The observational equations for satellite-to-satellite tracking are derived and related to both global and regional geopotential modeling. The discussion concludes with a sample of published case studies that have demonstrated the energy balance approach and achieved tangible results in large-scale hydrological mass flux monitoring.
Inflammation and immune cell recruitment in the CNS following disseminated Cryptococcus neoformans infection

Mortality in Cryptococcus neoformans (Cn) infection is chiefly associated with CNS infection but little is known about immune responses against Cn within the CNS. We established an i.v. model of disseminated cryptococcosis that leads to a rapid expansion of Cn in the CNS in order to compare inflammatory readouts in resistant CBA/J with susceptible C57BL/6 mice. Fungal burdens peaked (>10 7 CFU) in the brain by d7 post infection in both models, but in CBA/J mice fungal burden significantly declined between d14 to d21. In contrast, C57BL/6 mice developed persistently high fungal burdens through d21. Consistent with these findings CBA/J mice showed gradual increases in Ly6C + myeloid, CD4 + and CD8 + T cell infiltration along with production of CCL2, IFNγ and CXCL10, reaching maximum or near maximum levels by day 14. In C57BL6, the development of inflammatory responses was significantly delayed. Production of cytokines and influx of Ly6C + , CD4 + and CD8 + cells was almost absent until d21, but prominently exceeded all readouts from CBA/J at day 21 by several fold. Significant increases in iNOS hi CD11b hi MHCII hi CD11c + cells and an overabundance of highly activated CD11c + MHCII + microglia, hallmarks of rapidly developing CNS pathologies, were also more evident in the brains of C57BL/6 mice at d21. In summary, our findings are consistent with the hypothesis that early recruitment and activation of inflammatory cells in the CNS post-Cn infection, presumably in response to early CCL2-induction, along with subsequent early induction of IFNγ and CXCL10 promotes fungal clearance. In contrast, delayed responses found in C57BL6 mice were ineffective at removing fungal organisms while leading to over exuberant inflammation and detrimental CNS pathology.
Diet and feed efficiency status affect rumen microbial profiles of sheep

Abstract The rumen microbiota plays a large role in the digestion of consumed feeds in ruminant livestock and likely influences feed efficiency. The objective of this study was to determine associations of diet and feed efficiency status with rumen microbial profiles in growing lambs. Growing wethers were fed either a concentrate- (C; n = 39) or forage-based (F; n = 38) diet. Individual feed intake was measured over a 49 d intake trial and initial, mid and final BW were recorded for estimation of feed efficiency. Rumen fluid samples were collected at the end of the trial, and DNA for sequencing was extracted from the rumen fluid of the 10% lowest ranking and highest ranking wethers for feed efficiency on each diet. Paired-end reads were filtered, quality trimmed and compared with a database of known 16S rDNA genes. Operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were defined as sequence clusters with ≥ 97% identity in a 16S rDNA database; 349 prokaryotic OTUs were present in at least one animal. Of these OTUs, 27 were affected ( P ≤ 0.05) by the interaction of diet with feed efficiency status, 44 were affected ( P ≤ 0.05) by the main effect of diet, and 11 were affected ( P ≤ 0.05) by the main effect of feed efficiency status. These results confirm that diet is a major influence on composition of the rumen microbiome. Also, key microbial species may play important roles in the regulation of feed efficiency, and those species may differ according to diet composition.
Polymer and Formulation Design Characteristics for Developing Bonding Capabilities of Radiation-Curable Coatings and Adhesive Systems

Development of adhesive bonding capabilities for rapid high energy electron or photoinduced polymerization reactions involving free radical intermediates requires knowledge of the following concepts. 1) Nature of the substrate/substrate preparation. 2) Monomer design/surface tension, solubility parameters, viscosity, polar-nonpolar, shrinkage during polymerization. 3) Cross-linking oligomer design/MW between cross-link sites or number of reactive sites, polarity, viscosity, shrinkage factor. 4) Polymer design/reactive-nonreactive Tg, MW, MW between cross-link sites, functionality, surface energies. In this paper, several of the above concepts and their interrelationships directed towards achieving adhesive bonding of radiation curable coatings/adhesives to a wide variety of substrates will be discussed.
Synthesis, characterization, and growth mechanism of motifs of ultrathin cobalt-substituted NaFeSi2O6 nanowires

In this report, we have synthesized and structurally characterized nanowire bundles of cobalt-substituted pyroxenes, similar to the crystal structure of aegirine (i.e. Co-substituted XYSi2O6 with X and Y referring to metallic elements such as but not limited to Co, Na, and Fe), using a readily scalable hydrothermal technique. We propose a growth mechanism for these bundles, based on detailed time and temperature dependent studies as well as complementary control experiments, particularly reactions in the absence of either 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) or sodium hydroxide (NaOH), via a transmission electron microscopy visualization study. Moreover, these nanowire bundles were probed for their magnetic properties and chemical composition using superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) measurements, X-ray diffraction, and pair distribution function analysis, respectively. Specifically, SQUID measurement observations highlighted that these bundles evince (i) unique and interesting super-paramagnetic properties at 5 K that are consistent with that of our previously published ∼2 nm ultra-small nanoparticles as well as (ii) paramagnetic behavior at 300 K.
Best Practices Framework for Online Faculty Professional Development: A Delphi Study

Online learning is now a common practice in higher education. Because of the continued growth in enrollments, higher educational institutions must prepare faculty throughout their teaching tenure for learning theory, technical expertise, and pedagogical shifts for teaching in the online environment. This study presents best practices for professional development for faculty teaching online. In this study, the Delphi Method was used to gain consensus from a panel experts on the essentiality of professional development items to help faculty prepare for teaching in the online environment. This study included four survey rounds with a panel experts to develop consensus and identify best practices consisting of essential professional development and institutional/organizational strategies for supporting faculty teaching online. These results are significant for planning new or improving existing faculty development programs that enhance teaching and learning in the online classroom.
Case 2—When Cultures Collide and a Newborn Almost Dies

A graduate student studying in the U.S. from China gave birth to a baby girl with Down syndrome and an esophageal fistula. The mother refused to consent for surgery for the baby, and explained that her disabled daughter would not be welcomed by extended family members when she and her husband completed their degrees and returned to China.
"Be Uncomfortable with Me for a Moment": Performing an Uneasy Solidarity in the New Black Fest's Hands Up: 7 Playwrights, 7 Testaments

Hands Up: 7 Playwrights, 7 Testaments is a performance inspired by the events of Ferguson, Missouri in 2014. Composed of seven monologues by Black playwrights, Hands Up explores the experiences of being Black in America in a context of racialized violence and institutionalized racism.
The effects of measurement basis and slack benefits on honesty in budget reporting

Abstract In this study, we experimentally investigate how managers' budget reporting behavior is influenced by two important features of the budgeting system: the measurement basis used in budget preparation (i.e., whether managers make budget reports in financial or nonfinancial measures) and managers' slack benefits in budget execution (i.e., whether managers benefit from budgetary slack directly or through an intermediate activity). While prior research suggests that moral self-regulation helps promote honest behavior, we predict that a financial measurement basis undermines moral self-regulation by strengthening the manager's desire to advance self-interest and that the absence of direct slack benefits undermines moral self-regulation by making misreporting more justifiable. We also predict that the effects of these two budgetary features on honesty are non-additive, due to the manager's diminishing marginal net utility from misreporting. Experimental results are consistent with our predictions. The implications of our findings for management accounting theory and practice are discussed.
Relationships, Teaching, and Learning

This book is about relationships, and how they impact teaching and learning. To get a feel for what I mean, I ask you to visualize a school setting. Imagine a classroom in which the students feel like their teacher truly cares about them as learners and individuals with their own lives and experiences beyond the class walls.
The Theory of Isometries

In mathematics when we have a class of objects satisfying certain axioms (such as incidence geometries) it is natural to study functions that send one object to another. Such functions are most interesting when they preserve special properties of the objects. If G = {I,ℒ,d} and G′ = {I′,ℒ′,d′} are metric geometries and if ϕ:I→I′; is a function, what geometric properties could we reasonably require ϕ to have?
Brain Gain: Connective or Intraneuronal Neural Implants Developments and Applications for Fixing and Enhancing Brain Function

Neural implants are devices that are installed in the brain to repair or augment its functions by decoding and processing signals from neurons. One type of emerging neural implant technology, referred to as "connective or intraneuronal" neural implants, involves using a form of prosthetic to facilitate the data transfer between cortical brain regions or within a single cortical brain region. This technology has potential applications that range from curing disorders associated with neuronal damage, such as memory loss or Parkinson's, to augmenting the capabilities of the human brain to process data more efficiently, including even the ability to sense environmental conditions previously alien to humanity's senses or network with other connected brains. While technical challenges exist in the areas of neural mapping, long-term effectiveness of the devices and potential harm caused by the invasiveness of surgery and where the devices reside, reasonable solutions to each problem exist and better solutions are on the horizon. Furthermore, product development teams may overcome the regulatory challenges with bringing this kind of medical device to market by implementing a robust compliance program to abide by applicable laws and regulatory processes. Finally, the ethical, social and political issues that this kind of advanced and sensitive technology can present may be resolved by proactive, sensible behavior that focuses on treating suffering patients, rather than building a new species of super-humans.
Identification and validation of actionable mutations in solid tumors.

e22149 Background: Although the use of genomic sequencing to guide cancer patients into clinical trials is being developed, much needs to be done before this becomes the standard of care. First, sm...
EFFECT OF OXYGEN ON ARTERIOLAR DILATION AND BLOOD VELOCITY DURING AND AFTER ARTERIAL OCCLUSION IN CAT SARTORIUS MUSCLE

Publisher Summary The arterioles of the cat sartorius muscle usually dilate when blood flow through the muscle is stopped for a brief period of time by clamping the arterial circuit. It is found that when the arterial clamp is removed, arteriolar diameter and blood velocity attain a peak value in the time period immediately following the release of occlusion and generally remain above control for several minutes post-occlusion. This chapter discusses a study to examine the effect of oxygen on arteriolar dilation and blood velocity during and after arterial occlusion in cat sartorius muscle. Tissue PO2 was altered by placing the isolated autoperfused cat sartorius muscle in contact with silicone fluid equilibrated with a 0% to 20% oxygen gas mixture. As oxygen tension in the bathing fluid was increased, the typical response was a decrease in peak arteriolar diameter and blood velocity immediately following the release of occlusion as well as a dimunition in the time needed for these parameters to return to the precontrol level.
Bilinear Control of DC-DC Boost Converter in the Presence of Gaussian Disturbance of Load

This paper presents a feedback control scheme of the boost converter governed by a bilinear discrete time model. The complete state space model is derived using the averaging method based on switch-open and switch-closed conditions of the converter. Load disturbances are represented by a random load resistance which is formulated as a Gaussian process with zero mean and a given covariance. For reference tracking and load disturbances rejection, in this study the bilinear control concept is deployed because the proportion-integral (PI) and linear quadratic regulator (LQR) control methods based on linearized models were found to be inadequate. The simulation results show that the system is mean square stable if the covariance of load disturbance is below a certain threshold.
Scalable Hyperparameter Selection for Latent Dirichlet Allocation

Latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) is a heavily used Bayesian hierarchical model used in machine learning for modeling high-dimensional sparse count data, for example, text documents. As a Bayesian ...
Robust survival-based RNAi using in tandem silencing of adenine phosphoribosyltransferase

RNA interference (RNAi) enables flexible and dynamic interrogation of entire gene families or essential genes without the need for exogenous proteins, unlike CRISPR-Cas technology. Unfortunately, isolation of plants undergoing potent gene silencing requires laborious design, visual screening, and physical separation for downstream characterization. Here, we developed a novel APT-based RNAi technology (APTi) in Physcomitrella patens that simultaneously improves upon the multiple limitations of current RNAi techniques. APTi exploits the pro-survival output of transiently silencing the APT gene in the presence of 2-fluoradenine, thereby establishing survival itself as a reporter of RNAi. To maximize silencing efficacy of gene targets we created vectors that facilitate insertion of any gene target sequence in tandem with the APT silencing motif. The APTi approach resulted in a homogenous population of P. patens mutants specific for our gene target, with zero surviving background plants within 8 days. The observed mutants directly corresponded to a maximal 93% reduction of the tested target protein, substantially exceeding previous dsRNA methods. The positive selection nature of APTi represents a fundamental improvement in RNAi technology and will contribute to the growing demand for technologies amenable to high-throughput phenotyping.
Managed mental health care and patterns of inpatient utilization for treatment of affective disorders

In this analysis we made use of a large data base of individuals insured by large American corporations to estimate the impact of managed care provision on hospital care for depression. Data on 6,348 individuals hospitalized for depression were examined to assess the effect of managed care techniques on the cost per episode and the likelihood of rehospitalization. Preadmission certification programs were found to lead to significant long- and short-run savings for payers.
Social Justice and Converging Theories: Library Service for Those with Intellectual and Developmental Disability (IDD)

While libraries have sought to advance diversity in their services, they have yet to engage a specific population which tests the limits of the profession’s capabilities and the scope of its mission. Those with Intellectual and Developmental Disability (IDD) combine the categories of learning and physical disabilities and demand the highest level of support. But the impediments to reading imposed by their cognitive condition make it difficult for them to access the library’s materials. Beset by funding shortages and systemic change, what are libraries to do? This study examines how convergent trends in educational theory and practice as well as grass-roots initiatives have created new possibilities for library services to this population. The study reviews these trends as well as a case study to suggest that libraries have much of what they need in their traditional programming and training when combined with a deeper understanding of the dynamics of social justice.
Who Switches Schools? Child-Level Predictors of School Mobility in Middle School Students

It is vital for researchers examining student outcomes of school mobility to understand and control for selection effects—the many ways that students who experience school mobility are different from those who do not switch schools. Using data from a 5-cohort sequential longitudinal study (N = 26,063, 61.2% Latinx, 31.3% Black, 6.7% White/other, and 0.7% Asian/Pacific Islander), we examined characteristics of students who did and did not engage in between-year, non-promotional, within-district moves throughout middle school (6th, 7th, and 8th Grade). Children were directly assessed for school readiness at age 4 and prospective longitudinal public school record data were collected on students through 8th grade. Approximately 19% of the sample moved to a different school at least once during middle school. Multivariate logistic regressions found that with all covariates included in the model, Black and Latinx students, those in poverty, and females were more likely to switch to a different middle school. Conversely, those who attended public school pre-K and those with better behavior at school entry were less likely to switch middle schools. Students who performed better academically back in 5th grade were less likely to switch schools. Researchers attempting to claim that school mobility has adverse effects on students’ academic performance and school completion need to understand and statistically control for these pre-existing differences between movers and non-movers before analyzing student outcomes.
Improved Methodology for Planar TEM Sample Preparation

preparing high-quality transmission electron microscopy (TEM) specimens is an important aspect for detailed physical failure analysis and material analysis. The development of the focused ion beam (FIB) microscope has greatly enhanced TEM specimen preparation capabilities. Localized plan view TEM samples have been prepared from silicon semiconductor wafers using the focused ion beam lift-out technique. The plan view technique offers site specific TEM capability from a horizontal section rather than a vertical cross section. The sections can be taken from any layer and can be angled if desired. The technique consists of milling a wedge shaped piece of material which is free from the substrate, lifting this out using an EasyLift micromanipulator and orientating it on the substrate with the original surface vertical. All preparation procedures are carried out without breaking the vacuum, thus making the whole process faster and reduced the chances of damaging the lamella during loading and unloading of TEM grid.
The Eigencurve of Modular Symbols

Stevens’s overconvergent modular symbols can replace Coleman’s overconvergent modular forms in the construction of the eigencurve. We give in Sect. 7.1 a detailed version of this construction. We then (Sect. 7.2) use Chenevier’s comparison theorem (see Sect. 3.8) to prove that this eigencurve is essentially the same as the Coleman-Mazur eigencurve. This construction provides over the eigencurve a natural module of distribution-valued modular symbols which is closely related to L-functions. In the next Sect. 7.3, we offer a detailed discussion of the points of the eigencurve that correspond to classical modular forms. Those points, and their neighborhoods in the eigencurve, are the main objects of interest for arithmetical applications. Section 7.4 introduces and studies one of the last remaining important characters of our intrigue, the family of Galois representations that the eigencurve carry. Using this family and Galois cohomology arguments, we study the local geometry of the eigencurve at classical points, focussing on questions of smoothness and etaleness over the weight space. Finally, we briefly discuss the most important results and questions concerning the global geometry of the eigencurve.
A Novel Approach to Evaluating Cardiac Surgery Providers: An Alternative to the RAMR.

OBJECTIVE We propose an alternative to the Risk Adjusted Mortality Rate (RAMR), about which we identify four serious concerns. We apply our method to cardiac surgery. DESIGN We present a methodology that uses the upper and lower tail probabilities (UTP/LTP) of the binomial distribution to screen for poor/high performing providers. STUDY SETTING The New York State Department of Health (NYS DOH) publicly releases data on all cardiac surgery patients in the state. We download cardiac surgery data from the NYS DOH website for the years 2011 through 2013. The state's objective is to identify poorly performing hospitals and surgeons and thereby reduce deaths. NYS employs the RAMR. RESULTS The UTP/LTP approach agrees with the RAMR in its classification of all 132 surgeons and all 40 hospitals. However, performance is a continuous construct and strict categorization can lead to failure to identify marginal providers. CONCLUSIONS Our methodology addresses all four concerns regarding the RAMR. The UTP/LTP approach avoids inappropriate hypothesis testing and is consistent with standard statistical theory and practice in its approach to case volume. It does not require confidence intervals and it applies to all providers regardless of case volume.
Effects of an array of dietary treatments and length of feeding on ruminal methane emission and other variables in hair sheep

Abstract Eighteen Katahdin sheep ewes (initial body weight [BW] = 73.7 ± 1.76 kg and age = 5.2 ± 0.56 yr) and 18 St. Croix ewes (54.7 ± 1.33 kg BW and 4.1 ± 0.42 yr) were used in an experiment to determine effects of dietary level of Sericea lespedeza (Lespedeza cuneata; 5.8% condensed tannins and 10.3 % crude protein, dry matter [DM] basis) and other supplemental ingredients on BW, feed intake, digestion, energy metabolism, ruminal methane emission, and levels of blood and ruminal fluid constituents. Diets were consumed ad libitum and included a concentrate supplement at approximately 0.45 % BW (DM). Alfalfa (Medicago sativa) was the basal forage for control (CON), ionophore (ION; lasalocid at 33 mg/kg DM), coconut oil (3%; CCO), and soybean oil (3%; SBO) diets, and forage in moderate- and high-lespedeza diets was a 1:1 mixture of alfalfa and lespedeza and all lespedeza, respectively (ALF:LES and LES, respectively). There were four 6-wk periods, with digestion assessed in wk 4 and measures with a respiration calorimetry system in wk 5. Although there was a three-way interaction involving dietary treatment, breed, and period, average forage intake was greater for LES than for CON, ION, CCO, SBO (P 0.05) for diets with lespedeza and for ION (697, 607, 589, 598, 635, and 690 g/day for CON, ALF:LES, LES, ION, CCO, and SBO, respectively; SEM = 50.4). There was a treatment by period interaction (P
Research Adventures with “Kinda Big” Data: Using NIBRS to Study Crime

My chapter is slightly different than the others in this volume. Rather than focusing on a particular topic to frame my discussion of developing research questions and addressing methodological challenges, I use a dataset as the basis for exploring these issues. Specifically, my focus is on the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program’s National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS). Mike and Steve asked the contributors to be informal and conversational in our entries, which proved to be much more challenging than it sounded. My conversations about NIBRS tend to be highly animated ones that quickly get into the weeds. One reason is that I am thrilled to meet anyone expressing even a passing interest in NIBRS as the NIBRS crowd tends to be rather limited (although our numbers are growing). Another is that I truly love my research (overall and with NIBRS in particular). It continues to amaze me that I am paid essentially to play with data, explore topics of my choosing, and derive the excitement of discovering something new and interesting. In an effort to bring some organization to the present conversation, I start with a brief description of NIBRS for the uninitiated before discussing my experiences using these data in my research.
Redefining Event Variables for Efficient Modeling of Continuous-Time Batch Processing

We define events so as to reduce the number of events and decision variables needed for modeling batch-scheduling problems such as described in [15]. We propose a new MILP formulation based on this concept, defining non-uniform time periods as needed and decision variables that are not time-indexed. It can handle complicated multi-product/multi-stage machine processes, with production lines merging and diverging, and with minimum and maximum batch sizes. We compare it with earlier models and show that it can solve problems with small to medium demands relative to batch sizes in reasonable computer times.
Sphingoproteomics: Proteomic Strategies to Examine Sphingolipid Biology

Interest in sphingolipids has increased in the past couple of decades as the number of biological activities identified has greatly expanded. These include roles in inflammation, proliferation, survival, and metastasis. Sphingolipids can exert these effects through an increasing number of identified interacting cellular targets. To facilitate the understanding of the intrinsic biology of sphingolipids and the development of sphingolipid-based therapeutics, further knowledge is needed. Various analytical protocols assist this endeavor, with mass spectrometry-based techniques seeing increasing usage, especially for measuring steady-state lipid levels. The area of mass spectrometry-based proteomics is also seeing increased usage in the study of lipid biology. This chapter provides an introduction to hypothesis-generating and hypothesis-testing protein-based analytical approaches to investigate sphingolipids and sphingolipid-metabolizing enzymes. These tools can serve to identify how sphingolipids regulate the proteome, to define how post-translational modifications control enzymatic activity, to identify protein–protein and protein–lipid interactions as well as to facilitate inhibitor development, among other concepts. These approaches can help delineate the roles and consequences of perturbations of sphingolipid metabolism in cancer.
Standard and new treatments for abdominal aortic aneurysms: the value of the Montefiore endovascular grafts for difficult aneurysms.

The mortality rate following rupture of an abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is 80-90% and the main goal of treatment is to prevent rupture. Treatment of the aneurysm is generally recommended for patients with an aneurysm larger than 5 cm in diameter, and the only effective treatment has been to replace the aneurysm with a prosthetic graft. Traditionally, this is performed through a major laparotomy; that is, open surgical repair, which itself carries a mortality rate of 4-8% and requires a hospital stay of 7-10 days. In addition, some sick patients are deemed a prohibitive risk for such major surgery and, therefore, treatment may be deferred. Endovascular grafts (EVGs) that enable treatment of patients with AAA without the need for laparotomy were developed in the hope of improving on the shortcomings of the standard repair technique. In addition to the various industry-made EVGs the authors have been using a surgeon-made Montefiore Endovascular Grafting System (MEGS). The recent introduction of several industry-made devices has prompted some to postulate that MEGS is no longer required. The 60 patients with AAA treated from 1 July 1997 to 30 June 1998 were evaluated for the inclusion criteria for industry-made EVG protocols. Those excluded from these protocols were evaluated for the MEGS. Open surgical repair was reserved for those unsuitable for any EVG repair or those not consenting to EVG repair. Thirty-seven percent of all cases could be treated with an industry-made device. By using the MEGS, an additional 43% of the cases could be treated endovascularly. In total, 80% of AAAs were able to be treated endovascularly. The reasons for excluding patients from industry-made devices were a combination of the following factors: (1) Short ( 60) proximal necks, (2) iliac artery aneurysms, (3) small, diseased or tortuous access arteries, and (4) small distal aortas. The mean length of stay for those treated endovascularly was 2.3 days, whereas it was 9 days for those treated by open surgery. There was no difference in the morbidity and mortality rates. EVG repair is feasible and safe for the majority of patients with AAAs; however, long-term durability is yet to be shown. Despite the availability of industry-made devices, there appears to be a continuing role for MEGS, especially for difficult aneurysms including those patients with complex anatomy and those with ruptured AAAs. (Jpn Circ J 1999; 63: 829 - 837)
Abstract T MP86: A Prospective Study of the Effect of Dehydration on Stroke Severity and Short Term Outcome

Background: Many ischemic stroke patients present to the hospital in a state of dehydration. We hypothesized that patients who were dehydrated at the time of acute stroke would have more severe stroke and worse short term outcomes. Methods: We enrolled consecutive ischemic stroke patients within 12 hours from their last normal neurological exam at a single academic health system. Patients with renal failure or who were unable to undergo MRI were excluded. Surrogate markers for dehydration were defined as BUN/Creatinine ratio >15 and urine specific gravity >1.010. Stroke severity was determined based on clinical examination (NIHSS score) and lesion volume measured on diffusion weighted MRI. The primary outcome of interest was change in NIHSS from admission to discharge. Results: We surveyed 383 ischemic stroke admissions to our comprehensive stroke center. Of these, 168 met inclusion criteria with 126/168 (75%) having complete laboratory and MRI data. 44% of our patients were dehydrated at the time of admi...
Electoral Pressure and Policy Change: Conversion or Replacement?

In the U.S. Congress, policy proposals often languish for years before eventually passing. For a shift in policy to succeed, the legislative coalition that opposed this policy must be broken, and a new coalition supporting the policy must be created. There are two ways in a representative democracy to create this new coalition: member replacement and member conversion. Previous literature concerning conversion and replacement suffers from an inability to distinguish the effects of conversion and replacement from differences that might arise between sessions, such as new policy proposals or changes in the status quo. Moreover, these studies typically ignore the impact of multiple veto points in the U.S. system. In order to overcome these deficiencies, this paper uses measures of ideal points that are comparable over time and across all branches of government, while defining policy-making across branches in terms of Krehbiel's pivotal politics model. As a result, I am able to separate the effects of replacement and conversion, and determine whether policy change is primarily caused by replacement, conversion, or some combination of the two processes.
Ultrasonic velocity anomalies in superconducting sinter-forged YBa2Cu3O7-

The velocity of ultrasound was measured on sinter-forged polycrystalline YBa/sub 2/Cu/sub 3/O/sub 7-//sub delta/ samples with a superconducting transition temperature of 91 K. The forging process results in crystallites which are preferentially aligned with their c axis aligned parallel to the forging axis as confirmed from optical and x-ray measurements. Sound-velocity measurements show that the material is elastically anisotropic. The temperature dependence of the sound velocity shows distinct anomalies. For propagation parallel to the forging axis, both longitudinal and shear waves displayed a thermal hysteresis between 65 and 260 K; however the longitudinal sound velocity with q-circumflex in the basal plane showed a much smaller thermal hysteresis. No effect of a magnetic field was observed on sweeping the magnetic field to 7.2 T at temperatures of 4 and 86 K.
Sending a Message or Staying Mum: How Newspapers Write About Public Opinion in Non-Election Years

Research on representation has shown that elected officials often look to newspapers to divine public opinion on issues of the day. The goal of this paper is to examine what elected officials might be taking away about public opinion when they rely on newspapers in this manner. Do they get detailed information about public preferences, or do they get vague stories about what “polls show”? How often are opportunities to learn about public opinion from newspapers available? In non-election years, are most stories about public opinion still about elections that are months –if not years – away? Under what conditions are poll results discussed as “sending a message” to politicians? Scholars have evaluated the quality of newspaper coverage of polling techniques (i.e., do they report the margin of error) and of polling during election campaigns (i.e., do they focus on the horse race or on the issues). To our knowledge, only one study has explicitly evaluated newspaper coverage of polls outside of the context of an election, yet that study is nearly 30 years old. Using a content analysis of two American newspapers in 2007, we examine the questions listed above. The study offers both pessimistic and optimistic conclusions. On the one hand, election-related poll stories dominate coverage of public opinion. And officials concerned with national issues are better served by poll-related stories than state and local officials. On the other hand, many salient national issues are covered in detail with some regularity, and when stories on state and local issues appear, they are often issue-based. Finally, poll numbers are often presented in context, noting whether the current results represent change or continuity.
Mature international travelers: an examination of gender and benefits.

Abstract With aging of the world's population, older travelers will continue to comprise a growing proportion of the world's travel population. This research examines differences within the older travel group with respect to travel product preferences and benefits sought with a focus on differences between males and females. The data used are from the 1997 French Pleasure Travel Market Survey and include those travelers over 50 years of age. Cluster analysis and ANOVA are employed. While there are some similarities between male and female responses, there are also differences in terms of destination attributes and benefits sought that underscore the identification of three distinct traveling groups. These results point out marketing implications, but also point toward methodological concerns that might guide future research.
Role of guanylyl cyclase receptors for CNP in salt secretion by shark rectal gland

The role of C-type natriuretic peptide (CNP) and its guanylyl cyclase-linked receptors in mediating salt secretion by the rectal gland of the spiny dogfish shark (Squalus acanthias) was investigate...
Green heterocycle synthesis, isochromenones and artemidin

Organic transformations in near critical water, generated in heated stainless steel pressure reactors or microwave irradiated Teflon or glass pressure reactors, yield a green synthesis of isochromen-1-ones or isocourmarins. A synthesis of the isochromen-1-one artemidin using a combination of synthetic microwave and commercial microwave equipment is presented.
Effects of Estrogen on Activity and Fear-Related Behaviors in Mice

Estrogen has been shown to affect nonreproductive behaviors in humans and rodents, including anxiety, fear, and activity levels. Rat studies have shown increases and decreases in these behaviors. Inconsistencies may be due to differences in testing conditions and the extent to which each test measures anxiety, fear, or activity. Few mouse studies have been performed. The present study was conducted to address these issues by examining the effect of estradiol benzoate (EB) in ovariectomized (OVX), C57BL/6 mice on a range of behavioral paradigms measuring anxiety [open field (OF), dark-light transition (DLT), elevated plus maze (EP)], activity [running wheel (RW)], and conditioned fear learning (FCon). In OF, vehicle (Veh) animals spent more time in the center than EB-treated animals and were more active overall. In DLT, Veh animals were more active than EB-treated animals in both the dark and light compartments and made more transitions between the two. In EP, Veh animals entered a greater number of arms. During FCon, EB animals froze more than Veh to the conditioned stimulus. In contrast, in the home cage RW, EB animals were more active than Veh. Factor analysis was used to characterize intertask correlations of females' behavior and to explore the possibility that estrogen may have an impact on a general arousal factor. In sum, estrogen treatment heightened fear responses in a range of fear and anxiety-provoking situations (OF, DLT, EP, and FCon), while increasing activity in the safer RW. We suggest that EB treatment may result in a generally more aroused animal.
Highly regioselective deprotonations of acyclic ketimines

Abstract Synthetic methods for highly regioselective deprotonation of methyl n -alkyl, n -alkyl, and n -alkyl sec -alkyl ketamines are described which permit electrophilic substitution at either structurally isomeric or stereoisomeric positions of ketimines derived from unsymmetrical acyclic ketones.
A pilot study investigating the effects of continuous positive airway pressure treatment and weight-loss surgery on autonomic activity in obese obstructive sleep apnea patients

Abstract Background We have previously demonstrated that severity of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) as measured by the apnea–hypopnea index (AHI) is a significant independent predictor of readily-computed time-domain metrics of short-term heart rate variability (HRV). Methods We aimed to assess time-domain HRV measured over 5-min while awake in a trial of obese subjects undergoing one of two OSA therapies: weight-loss surgery ( n =12, 2 males, median and interquartile range (IQR) for BMI 43.7 [42.0, 51.4] kg/m 2 , and AHI 18.1 [16.3, 67.5] events/h) or continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) ( n =15, 11 males, median BMI 33.8 [31.3, 37.9] kg/m 2 , and AHI 36.5 [24.7, 77.3] events/h). Polysomnography was followed by electrocardiography during wakefulness; measurements were repeated at 6 and 12–18months post-intervention. Results Despite similar measurements at baseline, subjects who underwent surgery exhibited greater improvement in short-term HRV than those who underwent CPAP ( p =0.04). Conclusions Our data suggest a possible divergence in autonomic function between the effects of weight loss resulting from bariatric surgery, and the amelioration of obstructive respiratory events resulting from CPAP treatment. Randomized studies are necessary before clinical recommendations can be made.
Preparation and characterisation of the nonahydrate and pentahydrate of aluminum sulfate

Abstract Crystalline Al 2 (SO 4 ) 3 · 9 H 2 O has been synthesized by thermal dehydration of a higher hydrate at a constant total water vapor pressure of one atmosphere. X-Ray diffraction analysis shows the compound to be identical to its only previous preparation by crystallization from solution. The pentahydrate of aluminum sulfate was also synthesized using the dehydration technique. Its X-Ray diffraction pattern has been determined for the first time. Doubt is cast upon the existence of the hexahydrate. The rate of vapor rehydration for both Al 2 (SO 4 ) 3 · 9 H 2 O and Al 2 (SO 4 ) 3 · 5 H 2 O was measured. Al 2 (SO 4 ) 3 · 9 H 2 O is metastable under the conditions employed.
X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy of TiO2 and other titanate electrodes and various standard Titanium oxide materials: Surface compositional changes of the TiO2 electrode during photoelectrolysis

Surface compositional changes were observed for TiO2 single crystal electrodes used for photoelectrolysis of water. Surface stoichiometries of several types of TiO2, SrTiO3 and BaTiO3 electrodes were characterized by XPS and compared with a variety of titanium, titanium oxide and titanium hydride standard materials. Reduction of the electrode surface in a hydrogen atmosphere results in an oxygen deficient surface composition. Photoelectrolysis at current densities of 10–15 mAcm2 for periods up to 8 h appears to return the electrode surface to a nearly stoichiometric oxygen-to-metal ratio. Reduction of the titanium oxide surfaces was also observed by exposure to an argon ion beam. Analysis of the electrode surface by a combination of XPS and ion-sputter profiling was still possible by simultaneous analysis of standard materials.
Effects of nonvisual secondary tasks on driver's gazing behavior for pedestrians

Estimating the situation awareness of a driver is very important for driving safety support systems. The most frequent type of fatal traffic accident in Japan involves pedestrians' being hit by drivers of “aimless driving” status. In this study, we investigate drivers' gazing behavior for detecting pedestrians. To make subjects think of other things and engage in “aimless driving,” we gave them nonvisual secondary tasks of four difficulty levels. We analyzed the experiment result and confirmed that in trials involving heavy secondary tasks, the drivers' accuracy of pedestrian tracking degraded and the subjects did not see pedestrians.