cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Mothers' management of adenoid-tonsillectomy pain in 4- to 8-year-olds: a preliminary study

The health care system has moved towards home care, early discharge, and day procedures. Parents in the home are, therefore, far more likely to be managing their children's postoperative pain than health professionals. The purpose of this study was to describe mothers' experiences in identifying and managing their children's acute pain associated with surgery. Because little is known about family's perceptions and management of a child's pain in the home, a qualitative design and grounded theory method were used. A purposive, convenience sample of 7 mothers whose children were 4-8 years old and who had a day-surgery adenoid-tonsillectomy were interviewed in depth (2-3 interviews per mother). Four themes were found in the data: (1) mothers' descriptions of their children's overall pattern of postoperative pain indicated that pain was minimal or absent before surgery, increased following surgery, and decreased with medicine and healing; (2) mothers' assessment and evaluation of their children's pain used pain cues similar to those used by nurses and physicians; (3) all the mothers worried about drug addiction; and 4) mothers learned to manage their children's pain through 'trial and error'. This study provides beginning data for understanding family management of children's pain.
Semi-topological K-theory using function complexes☆

Abstract The semi-topological K -theory K ∗ semi (X) of a quasi-projective complex algebraic variety X is based on the notion of algebraic vector bundles modulo algebraic equivalence. This theory is given as the homotopy groups of an infinite loop space K semi (X) which is equipped with maps K alg (X)→ K semi (X) , K semi (X)→ K top (X an ) whose composition is the natural map from the algebraic K -theory of X to the topological K -theory of the underlying analytic space X an of X . The theory K semi (X) defined and studied here is equivalent (when X is projective and weakly normal) to the so-called “holomorphic K -theory”, K hol (X) , of projective varieties, which is studied by Cohen and Lima-Filho. We give an explicit description of K 0 semi ( X ) in terms of K 0 ( X ), a description of K q semi (−) in terms of K 0 semi (−) for projective varieties, a Poincare duality theorem for projective varieties, and a computation of K semi (X) whenever X is a product of projective spaces or a smooth complete curve. For X a smooth quasi-projective variety, there are natural Chern class maps from K ∗ semi (X) to morphic cohomology compatible with similarly defined Chern class maps from algebraic K -theory to motivic cohomology and compatible with the classical Chern class maps from topological K -theory to the singular cohomology of X an .
Deviance Residual Moran's I Test and Its Application to Spatial Clusters of Small Manufacturing Firms in Japan:

It is proposed that when data exhibit local clusters, a logit local association model coupled with deviance residual Moran's I can be an alternative to the global Poisson autoregressive model becau...
Cellular phononic crystals with piezoelectric shunts for tunable directivity

Phononic crystals (PCs) are periodic media known for their spectral and spatial wave manipulation capabilities, among which we recall their stop-band filtering behavior, due to the formation of phononic bandgaps, and the spatial directivity, i.e., the inherent ability to produce directional wave patterns. In general, the anisotropic wave propagation patterns of PCs are characterized by multiple equipotent directions of wave beaming, a characteristic which prevents the effective de-energization of arbitrarily selected regions of the PC domain. In this work we discuss a few enhancements of the directivity of lattice-like PCs, obtained through the introduction of shunted piezoelectric inclusions. The lattice links of each unit cell are instrumented with piezoelectric patches, each connected to a separate negative capacitance circuit. By properly choosing the shunting parameters for selected subsets of patches, we can generate peculiar anisotropic stiffness landscapes and reconfigure the elastic wave patterns accordingly.
Magnification endoscopy, chromoendoscopy and other novel techniques in evaluation of patients with IBD

Magnification endoscopy and chromoendoscopy are two new endoscopic techniques which have been introduced into clinical practice over the past decade with uses in patients both with and without inflammatory bowel disease. Specific uses for these techniques in patients without inflammatory bowel disease include evaluating for celiac sprue and tropical sprue, detection of squamous cell esophageal cancer, detection of Barrett’s esophagus and its associated neoplasia, as well as assisting in the detection of colorectal neoplasia for which specific pit pattern appearances have been described. In patients with ulcerative colitis, magnification endoscopy and chromoendoscopy have been shown to significantly increase the overall detection of colorectal neoplasia, particularly in flat colorectal lesions, as compared with conventional endoscopy. In addition, pit pattern analysis has allowed these techniques to be highly accurate in predicting neoplasia at histology. Thus, with magnification endoscopy and chromoendoscopy, targeted biopsy during colorectal neoplasia surveillance in ulcerative colitis may become feasible in the not too distant future. Finally, magnification endoscopy and chromoendoscopy have been shown to be significantly more accurate than conventional endoscopy in predicting the extent of ulcerative colitis and in predicting mild histologic disease. These techniques do not appear to be helpful in predicting severe histologic disease, and it is unclear at this time if they will be useful for predicting moderate histologic disease. Specific trials using magnification endoscopy and chromoendoscopy to predict response to therapy have not yet been done to determine whether these findings will translate into any significant clinical advantage.
Measurement of albuterol in guinea pig serum by high performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection.

A sensitive, simple and reproducible high performance liquid chromatographic method for detecting and quantifying albuterol in guinea pig serum is described. A structurally related compound, bamethan, was used as an internal standard. The method employs ion-pair extraction with di(2-ethylhexyl)phosphate followed by chromatography on a Zorbax SB C18 reversed-phase column. Fluorescence detection was used to identify the compounds of interest. The calibration curve was linear between 1 and 50 ng/mL albuterol hemisulfate salt (0.83 and 41.50 ng/mL albuterol base), and the limit of detection for a 1 mL sample was 1 ng/mL albuterol hemisulfate salt (0.83 ng/mL albuterol base). Serum levels of albuterol were quantified from guinea pigs that had received the drug by continuous subcutaneous infusion at a dose of 0.2 mg/kg/day for 1, 5 or 10 days, or 10 days followed by a 24 h washout period. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Distortion in the Structures of 5-Azaadamantanone and Its N-Oxide: Implication on Diastereofacial Selectivity

Ab initio molecular orbital studies of adamantanone (1), 5-azaadamantanone (2), and 5-azaadamantanone N-oxide (3) show that 2 and 3 have distorted structures. The torsional angle τOCCαCβ in the C2v symmetric adamantanone 1 is 120.6°. τOCCαCβ is 124.0° in the piperidinedione ring of 3 and 117.8° in the cyclohexanone ring of 3, indicating a significant distortion. The corresponding values for 2 are 122.5° and 120.3° indicating a slightly distorted structure. These structural results are consistent with the previously observed π-facial selectivity in NaBH4 reduction of 2 and 3, but contradict with the suggestion that they are symmetrical.
Data Identification for Improving Gene Network Inference using Computational Algebra

Identification of models of gene regulatory networks is sensitive to the amount of data used as input. Considering the substantial costs in conducting experiments, it is of value to have an estimate of the amount of data required to infer the network structure. To minimize wasted resources, it is also beneficial to know which data are necessary to identify the network. Knowledge of the data and knowledge of the terms in polynomial models are often required a priori in model identification. In applications, it is unlikely that the structure of a polynomial model will be known, which may force data sets to be unnecessarily large in order to identify a model. Furthermore, none of the known results provides any strategy for constructing data sets to uniquely identify a model. We provide a specialization of an existing criterion for deciding when a set of data points identifies a minimal polynomial model when its monomial terms have been specified. Then, we relax the requirement of the knowledge of the monomials and present results for model identification given only the data. Finally, we present a method for constructing data sets that identify minimal polynomial models.
The sigma-1 receptor: roles in neuronal plasticity and disease

Sigma-1 receptors (Sig-1Rs) have been implicated in many neurological and psychiatric conditions. Sig-1Rs are intracellular chaperones that reside specifically at the endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-mitochondrion interface, referred to as the mitochondrion-associated ER membrane (MAM). Here, Sig-1Rs regulate ER-mitochondrion Ca(2+) signaling. In this review, we discuss the current understanding of Sig-1R functions. Based on this, we suggest that the key cellular mechanisms linking Sig-1Rs to neurological disorders involve the translocation of Sig-1Rs from the MAM to other parts of the cell, whereby Sig-1Rs bind and modulate the activities of various ion channels, receptors, or kinases. Thus, Sig-1Rs and their associated ligands may represent new avenues for treating aspects of neurological and psychiatric diseases.
Vitality rediscovered: theorizing post-Soviet ethnicity in Russian social sciences

Based on materials collected during a fieldwork in Barnaul (Siberia, Russia) in 2001–2004, the article explores two provincial academic discourses that are focused on issues of Russian national identity. Ethnohistories of trauma address Russia’s current problems through the constant re-writing of the country’s past in order to demonstrate the non-Russian character of its national and state institutions. In the second discourse, ethno-vitalism, the struggle over constructing and interpreting the nation’s memory of the past is replaced with a similar struggle over constructing and interpreting perceptions of the nation’s current experience. Produced by professional intelligentsia, these frameworks and discourses provide a useful link to understanding imaginary constructions of the national belonging in a situation where more positive ways of inventing traditions and imagining communities are unavailable or discredited.
Catalytic activity of ultrathin Pt films on aligned carbon nanotube arrays

Abstract Uniform ultrathin Pt films were electrodeposited onto an aligned array of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) for high-area chemically stable methanol fuel cell anodes. Electrochemical treatment of the graphitic CNT surfaces by diazoniumbenzoic acid allowed for uniform Pt electroplating. The mass activity of the Pt thin film can reach 400 A/g at a scan rate of 20 mV/s and in a solution of 1 M CH 3 OH/0.5 M H 2 SO 4 . A programmed pulse potential at 0 V was also seen to nearly eliminate the effects of carbon monoxide poisoning. The mass activity of Pt for methanol oxidation can be maintained at 300 A/g for more than 3000 s, which is 19 times of that under a constant potential of 0.7 V (vs. Ag/AgCl).
A Thermal Management Device for a Lower-Limb Prosthesis

Abstract Excessive heat and the resulted perspiration within a prosthetic socket were the most common causes for reporting a reduced quality of life for prosthesis users. This paper presents a novel thermal management device to maintain a constant skin temperature for a lower-limb prosthesis. To decrease the prosthetic socket's thermal resistance, heat pipes were used to concentrate heat flux from the simulated skin surface to a cooling region on the outer surface of the socket where a compact heat sink was attached. A small fan was used to convect heat from the heat sink to the ambient surroundings. Thermal resistance of the cooling device was adjusted to match various thermal loads by changing the fan power. Experiments showed that cooling capacity of the prototype device ranges from 2.1 W to 7.0 W at an ambient temperature of 23.0 °C. The automatic control mode to maintain a constant skin temperature was also demonstrated. Further analysis showed that the device can potentially maintain a constant skin temperature for a thermal load as large as 9.4 W. The compact size, quiet operation and heat removal capability make the device suitable for maintaining a comfortable and healthy thermal environment inside the prosthesis socket.
Loss of the Y chromosome associated with translocation t(6;9)(p23;q34) in a patient with acute nonlymphocytic leukemia

A 34-year-old male with acute nonlymphocytic leukemia (ANLL) and a t(6;9)(p23;q34) is described, in whom loss of the Y chromosome had occurred in the t(6;9) clone. The leukemic blasts were relatively undifferentiated and there was no increase in marrow basophils. The unusual clonal evolution and hematologic features in this patient are compared to 27 previously documented cases with this translocation.
Helvite, A product of magmatic emanations at Iron Mountain, Sierra Socorro Counties, New Mexico

The recent discovery of the widespread occurrence of helvite, a beryllium-bearing mineral, at Iron Mountain, New Mexico, has aroused interest in the commercial possibilities of a mineral which heretofore has been considered to have only scientific significance. Helvite contains about 13 per cent beryllium oxide as compared with five to ten per cent beryllium oxide in the mineral, beryl, which at present is the principal source of commercial beryllium. Helvite is consistently distributed, though sparingly in some places, through great masses of contact-metamorphic rock at Iron Mountain and, therefore, provides great hope for the future when the metallurgical problems have been solved and large-tonnage, low-grade ore can be utilized.
Local Regulation of Effective Blood Flow in Muscle

The techniques of macro- and micro-tissue clearance were used to study reactive hyperemia. Clearance of radioactive iodide from gross injection sites in muscles of rabbits and clearance of micro-injected diffusible dye from the exposed, directly observed spinotrapezius of rats gave evidence for an exact quantitative repayment of effective blood flow debt. In both types of preparation a subnormal clearance followed a thermally induced hyperemia as an apparent compensation. The exact quantitative repayment and compensation support the hypothesis that local effective blood flow is in a steady-state relation to the local concentration in tissue fluid of some agent with vasodilating properties. It is suggested that an extension of this method to studies of vasodilatation induced by drugs or other chemicals might offer an approach to identification of the normal vasodilator, and to physiological proof of its exact nature.
The action of ultraviolet light on the patterns of banding induced by restriction endonucleases in human chromosomes.

The irradiation of metaphase spreads of human cells with ultraviolet (UV) light blocked the chromosome banding induced by Alu I, Mbo I, Dde I, Hinf I, Hae III, and Rsa I restriction endonucleases. At 13 J/m2 there was moderate inhibition of the nuclease action, which was detected as an increase in the stain intensity of chromosomes (Alu I, Mbo I, Dde I, Rsa I) or as a change in the banding pattern (Hinf I, Hae III). At 70–300 J/m2 the UV-induced blockage was complete; the chromosomes showed no banding, and stain intensity was similar to that of control slides incubated with buffer. — BrdU substitution and the irradiation of BrdU-substituted chromosomes with 313 nm light at 1800–15000 J/m2 did not block the action of restriction nucleases. On the other hand, UV irradiation of BrdU-substituted chromosomes inhibited the action of restriction enzymes at the same fluences that blocked the nuclease action in unsubstituted chromosomes. The data indicate that DNA-protein crosslinkage is the factor inhibiting DNA extraction and chromosome banding.
Loop Top Hard X-Ray Emission in Solar Flares: Images and Statistics

The discovery of hard X-ray sources near the top of a flaring loop by the Hard X-Ray Telescope on board the Yohkoh satellite represents a significant progress toward the understanding of the basic processes driving solar flares. In this paper we extend the previous study of limb flares by Masuda by including all Yohkoh observations up through 1998 August. We report that from 1991 October to 1998 August, Yohkoh observed 20 X-ray-bright limb flares (where we use the same selection criteria as Masuda), of which we have sufficient data to analyze 18 events, including eight previously unanalyzed flares. Of these 18 events, 15 show detectable impulsive loop top emission. Considering that the finite dynamic range (about a decade) of the detection introduces a strong bias against observing comparatively weak loop top sources, we conclude that loop top emission is a common feature of all flares. We summarize the observations of the footpoint-to-loop top flux ratio and the spectral indexes. We present light curves and images of all the important newly analyzed limb flares. Whenever possible we present results for individual pulses in multipeak flares and for different loops for multiloop flares. We then discuss the statistics of the fluxes and spectral indexes of the loop top and footpoint sources, taking into account observational selection biases. The importance of these observations (and those expected from the scheduled HESSI satellite with its superior angular spectral and temporal resolution) in constraining acceleration models and parameters is discussed briefly.
“You Are as You Read”: Do Students’ Reading Interests Contribute to Their Individuality?

On empirical and theoretical grounds, it is proposed that the enjoyment of reading, and particular reading interests, relate to people's individuality. This research used photo essays about the self as the method for operationalizing individuality—that is, self-construals that are unlike others (i.e. are uniquely self-reflective, multidimensional, creative). In two studies of college students (N = 689 with questionnaire data and photo essays), findings showed that, as compared to more conventional peers, individualistic photo essayists reported greater enjoyment of reading and had more “intellectual” reading interests, including fiction, the humanities/social science, and science. More conventional students preferred to read about news, sports, and romance/sexuality. Unlike stable personality traits, amount and types of reading may be one personally controllable path toward developing individuality of young adults.
Flux preset high-speed magnetic amplifiers

IT HAS BEEN established previously that the “firing angle” in a magnetic amplifier is governed primarily by the flux state of the core at the beginning of the gating half-cycle and that the change in the core state during the control half-cycle is fixed by the net time integral of voltage applied to the core during that half-cycle. The half-cycle response amplifier using “square-loop” material was developed in 1951 by applying this theory.1
Affect and Creative Performance on Crowdsourcing Platforms

Performance on crowd sourcing platforms varies greatly, especially for tasks requiring significant cognitive effort or creative insight. Researchers have proposed several techniques to address these problems, yet few have considered the role of affect, despite the well-established link between positive affect and creative performance. In this paper, we examine two affective techniques to boost creativity on crowd sourcing platforms - affective priming and affective pre-screening. Across three experiments, we find divergent results, depending on which technique is used. We find that not all happy crowd workers are alike. Those that are primed to feel happy exhibit enhanced creative performance, whereas those that merely report feeling happy exhibit impaired creative performance. We examine these findings in light of preexisting research on creativity, affect, and mood saliency. Lastly, we show how our findings have implications not only for crowd sourcing platforms, but also for other human-computer interaction scenarios that involve affect and creative performance.
Bolted lap joints of laminates with varying thickness and metallic inserts

An analysis method to determine the bolt load distribution in single- and double-lap joints is presented. The joints are made of laminates in which the bolt holes are reinforced with metallic inserts and the laminates may have variable thickness and lay-up. The solution method based on the combined complex potential and variational formulation satisfies the equilibrium equations exactly, and the boundary conditions and constraints are satisfied by minimizing the total potential. Under general loading conditions, this method is applied to multiple bolt configurations without requiring symmetry conditions while explicitly accounting for the contact phenomenon and the interaction among the bolts.
Recycling plastics: Current status

Increasing costs of waste disposal and energy usage are prompting the development of technologies for recovering waste plastics from solid wastes. The current status of such plastics recycling is reviewed. Many industries are recovering PVC from PVC-coated fabric scrap used in furniture and automotive upholstery. Wire and cable insulation scrap is also proving to be a source of recoverable plastic. (5 diagrams, 5 tables)
A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of combination therapy in nonresponders to desmopressin for monosymptomatic nocturnal enuresis

Purpose Our institution, along with others, has previously published that larger functional bladder capacity (FBC) predicts a better response to desmopressin for primary, monosymptomatic nocturnal enuresis (PMNE). Since anticholinergic therapy increases the FBC, our study examines the efficacy of combination therapy (anticholinergic with desmopressin) in nonresponders of desmopressin alone for PMNE. Material and methods Only PMNE pts with Results Forty-one patients were enrolled and seven patients were excluded for non-compliance. Both treatment groups were equally matched for age, gender and number of wet nights per week. After one month of treatment, the anticholinergic group had a significantly decreased risk of a wet episode by 66% (Odds Ratio 0.33, 95% confidence intervals) when compared to the placebo group. Conclusions Our results validate a treatment strategy using combination therapy with desmopressin and an anticholinergic for PMNE in children who are refractory to desmopressin alone.
Differential effects of various phosphodiesterase inhibitors, pyrimidine and purine compounds, and inorganic phosphates on cyclic CMP, cyclic AMP and cyclic GMP phosphodiesterases

The effects of various compounds on homogeneous cyclic CMP phosphodiesterase (cyclic CMP-PDE) from pig liver were compared with the effects on cyclic AMP phosphodiesterase (cyclic AMP-PDE) and cyclic GMP phosphodiesterase (cyclic GMP-PDE). Of the conventional inhibitors for AMP-PDE and cyclic GMP-PDE, only Sch 15280 was found to inhibit cyclic CMP-PDE. Nucleoside monophosphates, orthophosphate, and 2':3'-cyclic nucleotides were rather specific and were more effective in inhibiting cyclic CMP-PDE, compared to their effects on cyclic AMP-PDE and cyclic GMP-PDE. On the other hand, nucleoside di-and triphosphates and pyrophosphate (PPi) were less effective in inhibiting cyclic CMP-PDE and were without marked effect on cyclic AMP-PDE and cyclic GMP-PDE. Orthophosphate (Pi) was more potent than CMP, CDP and CTP in inhibiting cyclic CMP-PDE, with a rank order of inhibitory potency of Pi greater than CMP greater than CDP greater than CTP. Of the 3' :5'-cyclic nucleotides examined, cyclic UMP was more specific in inhibiting cyclic CMP-PDE compared to its effect on cyclic AMP-PDE and cyclic GMP-PDE. In all experiments similar results were obtained when either cyclic CMP or cyclic AMP was used as a substrate for this multifunctional cyclic CMP-PDE, supporting the contention that a single catalytic site on the enzyme is responsible for the hydrolysis of both cyclic CMP and cyclic AMP. The present studies further support our original suggestion that cyclic CMP-PDE is a unique enzyme that is distinguishable from the conventional enzymes for purine cyclic nucleotides.
High-pressure liquid chromatographic analysis of drugs in biological fluids II: Determination of an antiarrhythmic drug, tocainide, as its dansyl derivative using a fluorescence detector

A sensitive and specific method is described for the determination of a new primary aliphatic amine antiarrhythmic drug, tocainide. Tocainide, together with an internal standard, is selectively extracted from plasma or blood and reacted with dansyl chloride. The highly fluorescent dansyl derivatives are separated using high-pressure liquid chromatography and measured using a fluorescence detector. The method can measure therapeutic and subtherapeutic concentrations of the drug (0.1–5.0 μg/ml of plasma) with a standard deviation of less than 2%.
Morphological Barrier Island Changes and Recovery of Dunes after Hurricane Dennis, St. George Island, Florida

Abstract During the summer of 2005, Hurricane Dennis overwashed the eastern portion of St. George Island, part of the northwest barrier island chain located along the Florida Panhandle. In this paper, LiDAR-based morphological changes of the barrier island are analyzed, along with the short-term post-storm recovery of secondary dunes. Results show that overwash from the storm surge removed nearly the entire foredune complex, and the initial breaching probably occurred where the complex was either low or discontinuous; in these locations, beach widening was less. In contrast, approximately 10 m of beach widening occurred where foredunes were higher and continuous, implying that more sediment was available for seaward transport during storm conditions. The secondary dunes recovered at an average linear rate of 3–4 cm per month in the presence of vegetation, although monthly averages varied from − 1.5 to 1.4 m3/m and total volume changes varied from − 17.9 to 16.4 m3/m for the duration of the study. Furthermore, vegetation deterred dune migration, thus favoring dune growth and reducing erosion due to wind. In contrast, the absence of vegetation inhibited dune growth. Insignificant changes in elevation occurred in areas of storm debris or lag deposit. Finally, distributions of topographic gradients and curvature calculated numerically from pre- and post-storm LiDAR data are introduced as a potential tool in determining the relative post-storm recovery of the dune field.
A model of delayed aortic coarctation employing arterial and venous catheters for chronic blood sampling in conscious dogs

We have developed a reproducible model of cardiac hypertrophy in conscious, unrestrained dogs after recovery from surgical trauma. The model has many potential applications due to the availability of non-stressful blood sampling from four arterial and/or venous vascular locations. Samples of blood for biochemical or pharmacological measurements were obtained from the carotid and femoral arteries as well as the pulmonary artery and inferior vena cava. Left ventricular hypertrophy up to 128% of the non-operated control animals was produced at 96 h post-intraluminal aortic coarctation. Inflation of a balloon in the descending aorta increased outflow resistance and resulted in hypertrophy. Hemodynamic parameters of cardiac function were obtained via a Swan-Ganz cardiac output catheter located permanently in the pulmonary artery. Complications observed in the dog model were minimal and mortality did not occur during the experimental period. This animal model employing multiple implanted catheters for blood sampling plus the ability to impose aortic coarctation in the unrestrained animal provides a flexible model system for biochemical and pharmacological research.
Armenians' Dual Identity in Jordan.

Derderian-Aghajanian, Ani (2009). Armenians' dual identity in Jordan. International Education Studies, 2(3), pp34-40.
Hybrid Electric Vehicle Energy Management With Battery Thermal Considerations Using Multi-Rate Dynamic Programming

Battery capacity and battery thermal management control have a significant impact on the Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV) fuel economy. Additionally, battery temperature has a key influence on the battery health in an HEV. In the past, battery temperature and cooling capacity has not been included while performing optimization studies for power management or optimal battery sizing. This paper presents an application of Dynamic Programming (DP) to HEV optimization with battery thermal constraints. The optimization problem is formulated with 3 state variables, namely, the battery State Of Charge (SOC), the engine speed and the battery bulk temperature. This optimization is critical for determining appropriate battery size and battery thermal management design. The proposed problem has a major challenge in computation time due to the large state space. The paper describes a novel multi-rate DP algorithm to reduce the computational challenges associated with the particular class of large-scale problem where states evolve at very different rates. In HEV applications, the battery thermal dynamics is orders of magnitude slower than powertrain dynamics. The proposed DP algorithm provides a novel way of tackling this problem with multiple time rates for DP with each time rate associated with the fast and slow states separately. Additionally, the paper gives possible numerical techniques to reduce the DP computational time and the time reduction for each technique is shown.Copyright © 2013 by ASME
Adaptive mesh refinement based on Revised Integral Deferred Correction Method for Plasma physics

Summary form only given. In this work, we study a new AMR-RIDC method for hyperbolic conservation laws and problems from Plasma physics. This method combines the adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) framework [1,2] with Revised Integral Deferred Correction (RIDC) Method [3,4] to get a high order (4th order in time) adaptive solver for the solutions with shock. We hope to accomplish an efficient method for solving problems such as viscous Burgers' Equation, by taking use of the parallel structure of RIDC method and mesh adaptivity of AMR. Our high order method is realized by coupling high order interpolation in time (Hermite) for the ghost points, high order integrator of RIDC on the coarse mesh and the total variation diminishing (TVD) Runge-Kutta (RK) method on the fine mesh. We will demonstrate the accuracy of the AMR-RIDC method by the problems from hyperbolic conservation laws and Plasma physics on Shishkin mesh first, and check it on the real AMR mesh next. We expect our method is accurate and computationally efficient.
Lense-Thirring Precession and Quasi-periodic Oscillations in X-Ray Binaries

It has recently been suggested that gravitomagnetic precession of the inner part of the accretion disk, possibly driven by radiation torques, may be responsible for some of the quasi-periodic X-ray brightness oscillations (QPOs) and other spectral features with frequencies between 20 and 300 Hz observed in the power spectra of some low-mass binary systems containing accreting neutron stars and black hole candidates. We have explored the free and driven normal modes of geometrically thin disks in the presence of gravitomagnetic and radiation warping torques. We have found a family of low-frequency gravitomagnetic (LFGM) modes with precession frequencies that range from the lowest frequency allowed by the size of the disk up to a certain critical frequency ωcrit, which is ~1 Hz for a compact object of solar mass. The lowest frequency (lowest order) LFGM modes are similar to the previously known radiation warping modes, extend over much of the disk, and have damping rates 10 times their precession frequencies. The highest frequency LFGM modes are tightly wound spiral corrugations of the disk that extend to ~10 times its inner radius and have damping rates 103 times their precession frequencies. A radiation warping torque can cause a few of the lowest frequency LFGM modes to grow with time, but even a strong radiation warping torque has essentially no effect on the LFGM modes with frequencies 10-4 Hz. We have also discovered a second family of high-frequency gravitomagnetic (HFGM) modes with precession frequencies that range from ωcrit up to slightly less than the gravitomagnetic precession frequency ωgm,i of a particle at the inner edge of the disk, which is 30 Hz if the disk extends inward to the innermost stable circular orbit around a 2 M☉ compact object with dimensionless angular momentum cJ/GM2 = 0.2. The lowest frequency HFGM modes are very strongly damped and have warp functions and precession frequencies very similar to those of the highest frequency LFGM modes. In contrast, the highest frequency (lowest order) HFGM modes are very localized spiral corrugations of the inner disk and are weakly damped, with Q-values of ~2-50. We discuss the implications of our results for the observability of Lense-Thirring precession in X-ray binaries.
A Kautz-based Real-Time and Energy-Efficient Wireless Sensor and Actuator Network

Wireless Sensor and Actuator Networks (WSANs) are composed of sensors and actuators to perform distributed sensing and actuating tasks. Most WSAN applications (e.g., fire detection) demand that actuators rapidly respond to events under observation. Therefore, real-time and fault-tolerant transmission is a critical requirement in WSANs to enable sensed data to reach actuators reliably and quickly. Due to limited power resources, energy-efficiency is another crucial requirement. Such requirements become formidably challenging in large-scale WSANs. However, existing WSANs fall short in meeting these requirements. To this end, we first theoretically study the Kautz graph for its applicability in WSANs to meet these requirements. We then propose a Kautz-based Real-time, Fault-tolerant and Energy-efficient WSAN (REFER). REFER has a protocol that embeds Kautz graphs into the physical topology of a WSAN for real-time communication and connects the graphs using Distributed Hash Table (DHT) for high scalability. We also theoretically study routing paths in the Kautz graph, based on which we develop an efficient fault-tolerant routing protocol. It enables a relay node to quickly and efficiently identify the next shortest path from itself to the destination only based on node IDs upon routing failure. REFER is advantageous over previous Kautz graph based works in that it does not need an energy-consuming protocol to find the next shortest path and it can maintain the consistency between the overlay and physical topology. Experimental results demonstrate the superior performance of REFER in comparison with existing systems in terms of real-time communication, energy-efficiency, fault-tolerance and scalability.
The Full Extent of Student-College Academic Undermatch

Abstract This paper quantifies the extent of student-college “academic undermatch,” which occurs when a student's academic credentials permit them access to a college or university that is more selective than the postsecondary alternative they actually choose. Using a nationally representative dataset, we find that 41 percent of students undermatch in their postsecondary choice. We also find that academic undermatch affects students with a range of academic credentials, but is more common among those students from low socioeconomic status families, who live in rural areas, and whose parents have no college degree. Finally, we show that between the 1992 and 2004 high school senior cohorts, academic undermatch has decreased by nearly 20 percent. The decrease is partially due to students being more likely to apply to a matched college.
Iron, DtxR, and the regulation of diphtheria toxin expression

Summary In recent years considerable advances have been made in the understanding of the molecular basis of iron-mediated regulation of diphtheria toxin expression. The tox gene has been shown to be regulated by the heavy metal ion-activated regulatory element DtxR. In the presence of divalent heavy metal ions, DtxR becomes activated and binds to a 9 bp interrupted palindromic sequence. The consensus-binding site has been determined by both the sequence analysis of DtxR-responsive operators cloned from genomic libraries of Corynebacterium diphtheriae as well as by in vitro genetic methods using cyclic amplification of selected targets (CAST-ing). it is now clear that DtxR functions as a global iron-sensitive regulatory element in the control of gene expression in C. diphtheriae. In addition, the metal ion-activation domain of DtxR is being characterized by both mutational analysis and determination of the X-ray structure at 3.0 A resolution.
Pattern recognition and image processing for environmental monitoring

Pattern recognition (PR) and signal/image processing methods are among the most powerful tools currently available for noninvasively examining spectroscopic and other chemical data for environmental monitoring. Using spectral data, these systems have found a variety of applications employing analytical techniques for chemometrics such as gas chromatography, fluorescence spectroscopy, etc. An advantage of PR approaches is that they make no a prior assumption regarding the structure of the patterns. However, a majority of these systems rely on human judgment for parameter selection and classification. A PR problem is considered as a composite of four subproblems: pattern acquisition, feature extraction, feature selection, and pattern classification. One of the basic issues in PR approaches is to determine and measure the features useful for successful classification. Selection of features that contain the most discriminatory information is important because the cost of pattern classification is directly related to the number of features used in the decision rules. The state of the spectral techniques as applied to environmental monitoring is reviewed. A spectral pattern classification system combining the above components and automatic decision-theoretic approaches for classification is developed. It is shown how such a system can be used for analysis of large data sets, warehousing, and interpretation. In a preliminary test, the classifier was used to classify synchronous UV-vis fluorescence spectra of relatively similar petroleum oils with reasonable success.
Structure and polymorphism of class I MHC antigen mRNA.

We have used cDNA cloning and primer extension techniques to determine the complete nucleotide sequence of HLA-B7 mRNA. The 5′-untranslated sequence of the mRNA is rather short and the putative promoter has weak homology to the conventional “TATA” sequences. The 5′ end and the polyadenylation site define the transcription unit of theB7 gene to be about 3.5 kb long. Comparison of the translated nucleotide sequence of this CDNA with the amino acid sequence of the heavy chain of the B7 antigen showed two amino acid differences. In addition, comparison with the sequences of the coding and untranslated regions of severalHLA andH-2 genes showed that the class I histocompatibility molecules consist of four variable segments separated by three regions of homology. Analysis of the DNA polymorphisms revealed that in the variable segments the majority of the nucleotide substitutions are nonsilent, while in the homology regions the majority of substitutions are silent. Further analysis of the nature of the amino acid substitutions revealed the predominance of nonconservative replacements/changes in both the variable segments and the homology regions except the transmembrane part of the molecule. Selection at both the protein and the codon levels contributes to the pattern of mutations found in class I histocompatibility molecules.
Multimodal Mechanism of Action for the Cdc34 Acidic Loop: A CASE STUDY FOR WHY UBIQUITIN-CONJUGATING ENZYMES HAVE LOOPS AND TAILS*

Together with ubiquitin ligases (E3), ubiquitin-conjugating enzymes (E2) are charged with the essential task of synthesizing ubiquitin chains onto protein substrates. Some 75% of the known E2s in the human proteome contain unique insertions in their primary sequences, yet it is largely unclear what effect these insertions impart on the ubiquitination reaction. Cdc34 is an important E2 with prominent roles in cell cycle regulation and signal transduction. The amino acid sequence of Cdc34 contains an insertion distal to the active site that is absent in most other E2s, yet this acidic loop (named for its four invariably conserved acidic residues) is critical for Cdc34 function both in vitro and in vivo. Here we have investigated how the acidic loop in human Cdc34 promotes ubiquitination, identifying two key molecular events during which the acidic loop exerts its influence. First, the acidic loop promotes the interaction between Cdc34 and its ubiquitin ligase partner, SCF. Second, two glutamic acid residues located on the distal side of the loop collaborate with an invariably conserved histidine on the proximal side of the loop to suppress the pKa of an ionizing species on ubiquitin or Cdc34 which greatly contributes to Cdc34 catalysis. These results demonstrate that insertions can guide E2s to their physiologically relevant ubiquitin ligases as well as provide essential modalities that promote catalysis.
A systolic/cellular computer architecture for linear algebraic operations

We describe here a 2-D array of processing elements, connected in a nearest neighbor mesh, which provides a high performance linear algebraic computing capability. To provide this generality of operation, the processor array uses the Faddeev algorithm, mapped into a systolic/cellular architecture with only two different types of processing elements. Examples of how it can be used in robotics for such operations as image processing and inverting Jacobian matrices are given.
The effects of pelleting and glucanase supplementation in hulled barley based diets on feed manufacture, broiler performance, and digesta viscosity

Abstract Feeding broilers barley-based diets requires special consideration primarily due to effects on increased digesta viscosity and decreased nutrient digestion. Pelleting and glucanase supplementation are commonly performed prior to feeding broilers barley-based diets; however, the interaction of these practices is complex. The objective of this study was to establish a comprehensive evaluation of glucanase efficacy including: degree of processing, activity postpelleting, broiler performance, and digesta viscosity. Treatments were arranged in a 5 (diet formulation) × 2 (processing) factorial in a randomized complete block design with 8 replications/treatment. The 5 diet formulations consisted of positive control (PC), negative control (NC), glucanase A (GA) 125 or 1,000 β-Glu-U/kg feed, and glucanase B (GB) 1,000 β-Glu-U/kg feed. The PC and NC diets differed in metabolizable energy by 150 kcal/kg and enzymes were added to NC formulations. Diets were either fed as unprocessed mash or ground pellets. Diet formulation × processing did not interact for feed intake (FI), FCR, or total tract viscosity (P > 0.05); however, a trend was observed for ending bird weight, demonstrating that for ground pellets, GA 1,000 β-Glu-U/kg feed was improved relative to NC and similar to PC (P = 0.0903). Benefits associated with GB were not of similar magnitude, perhaps in part due to a 50% decrease in activity postpelleting. In addition, GA benefits were not suggested for unprocessed mash. The main effect processing was significant (P
Block length of LDPC codes in fading channels

In this paper, we study the block length of LDPC codes on fading channels with respect to coding efficiency, immunity of channel fading, decoding complexity and implementation complexity, LDPC codes are proved to approach near-Shannon limit of channel capacity when the length is long enough. It is desirable to have very long block length when the coding efficiency is concerned. Also thanks to the inherent "interleaver" effect, long codes are less likely to be completely corrupted in deep fades and can thus avoid serious performance degradation. However, the practical block length is confirmed by the implementation complexity of LDPC decoder, which increases significantly with block length. We show that for a given channel condition, there is a good block length that has the least decoding and implementation complexity whereas achieves the desired BER. A single path Rayleigh fading channel is employed in this study.
Reasons for enrollment, the informed consent process, and trust among low-income women participating in a community-based participatory research study.

Objective: Research is essential for guiding public health nursing practice with low-income and/or minority populations. Despite this, little is known about fundamental recruitment problems, the degree to which the informed consent process is comprehended, or how critical a role trust may play in conducting successful research with these groups. This article describes factors influencing recruitment of underrepresented groups, preferences for the informed consent process, and degree of trust participants extended to researchers. Design/Sample: A descriptive survey was used in this community-based participatory research study with low-income women. Results: The response rate was 58% (n=35 of 60 sample). The most compelling reason for enrolling was that the researchers recognized an unmet health need among the population (91%), followed by the opportunity to talk with other women in similar circumstances (74%), and the fact that nurses were conducting the study (57%). Comprehension of informed consent was high, most preferred a “group” consent process, and 100% trusted the researchers to follow procedures outlined in the informed consent document. Conclusion: Although findings support previous research regarding increased likelihood of enrollment when there is concordance between enrollees' goals and study topic, the establishment of trust between potential enrollees and researchers cannot be underestimated.
Rapid photolithographic fabrication of three dimensional microfluidic devices

A method for fabrication of three dimensional microfluidic devices is presented. The polymer devices are defined using two or more masks through which the devices are exposed to a radiative cure at different angles. Unlike most descriptions of fabrication of 3D devices, this design does not require the stacking of multiple 2D layers. The use of 3D CAD software to aid in producing the masks is presented.
Task-Oriented Integrated Use of Biological Web Data Sources

Biological web data sources have now become essential information sources for researchers. However, their use is tedious, labor-intensive, repetitive, and possibly involve the integration of data from multiple web data sources. In this paper, as a first step towards the full integration of web data sources, we propose a framework that allows an integrated use of biological sources in a task-oriented manner. We define and experimentally evaluate a toolkit-based framework for semi-automatically constructing an integrated (software) system that automates and optimizes the execution of a biology-related computational task at hand. To test and refine the principles of the framework, we build and evaluate "Pathway-Infer" as a benchmark integrated system.