cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Insights into neuroepigenetics through human histone deacetylase PET imaging

Epigenetic dysfunction is implicated in many neurological and psychiatric diseases, including Alzheimer's disease and schizophrenia. Consequently, histone deacetylases (HDACs) are being aggressively pursued as therapeutic targets. However, a fundamental knowledge gap exists regarding the expression and distribution of HDACs in healthy individuals for comparison to disease states. Here, we report the first-in-human evaluation of neuroepigenetic regulation in vivo. Using positron emission tomography with [(11)C]Martinostat, an imaging probe selective for class I HDACs (isoforms 1, 2, and 3), we found that HDAC expression is higher in cortical gray matter than in white matter, with conserved regional distribution patterns within and between healthy individuals. Among gray matter regions, HDAC expression was lowest in the hippocampus and amygdala. Through biochemical profiling of postmortem human brain tissue, we confirmed that [(11)C]Martinostat selectively binds HDAC isoforms 1, 2, and 3, the HDAC subtypes most implicated in regulating neuroplasticity and cognitive function. In human stem cell-derived neural progenitor cells, pharmacologic-level doses of Martinostat induced changes in genes closely associated with synaptic plasticity, including BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor) and SYP (synaptophysin), as well as genes implicated in neurodegeneration, including GRN (progranulin), at the transcript level, in concert with increased acetylation at both histone H3 lysine 9 and histone H4 lysine 12. This study quantifies HDAC expression in the living human brain and provides the foundation for gaining unprecedented in vivo epigenetic information in health and disease.
A Modest Proposal for Expediting Manuscript Selection at Less Prestigious Law Reviews

The matching market in unsolicited manuscripts, submitted to general law reviews, suffers from far too much wasted student effort. This is especially so among the less prestigious law review staffs, which scramble to read submissions they cannot land in the misguided belief they owe authors serious scholarly engagement with the drafts they submit. If they set aside this quaintly artisanal view — an apparent relic of the “Paper Chase” era that ill suits the age of ExpressO and Scholastica — students can process manuscripts far more efficiently. They need only update their manuscript-review systems according to the same market imperatives that drive the professors who submit the manuscripts, thus putting their respective interests on the same self-directed footing. For less prestigious journals, key moves include short-fuse automated offers and targeted categorical rejections of requests for expedited review.
Intellectual Self-Portrait

Even though I grew up in a family of educators (my mother and father were both principals and an older sister was an elementary school teacher) I had no early interest in entering the education profession. Nevertheless, growing up in this family environment and attending segregated schools in the South made me keenly aware of educational issues and inequities at an early age. Further, having been assigned outdated textbooks with no remaining spaces for entering my name, taking science classes with less lab equipment than I had in my Gilbert’s home chemistry sets, taking PE classes and playing varsity basketball on outdoor courts, and generally being educated in inferior facilities provided me with an experiential awareness of educational inequality under de jure segregation that left me feeling cheated.
Depressive Realism and Nondepressive Optimistic Illusions: The Role of the Self

Clinicians and laypeople alike have known for a long time that people think negatively when they are depressed. Indeed, overly pessimistic thinking is typically viewed as a hallmark feature of depression. From the perspective of the major cognitive theories of depression (e.g., Abramson, Alloy, & Metalsky; 1988, this volume; Abramson, Metalsky & Alloy, 1988b; c; Alloy, Abramson, Metalsky & Hartlage, 1988; Beck, 1967; 1976; Beck, Rush, Shaw & Emery, 1979), such negative thinking is not only a core symptom of depression, but a cause of this disorder as well. While it is well known that depressives’ perceptions are negative in content, the more unique aspect of Beck’s cognitive model is that it hypothesizes that depressed individuals’ inferences about themselves and their experiences are unrealistically negative, extreme, and distorted. In contrast, normal, nondepressed individuals’ information processing is hypothesized to be realistic and free from cognitive biases (but see Beck, 1986, for a more recent revision of his views on nondepression).
Chapter 3 – Client Health

This is the first chapter in the section on client variables, values, and preferences. Prior to recommending treatment, evidence-based practitioners consider a range of client variables. Client health plays an important role in selecting appropriate treatments. A client may lack a skill or show excessive behavior problems that interfere with their capacity to fully benefit from school, home, therapeutic, and/or community environments. These skills and behaviors may be directly or indirectly a result of client health. Medication, medical conditions, comorbidity (cooccurring conditions), biological variables, and mental health are all key features that evidence-based practitioners evaluate before identifying the “right” treatment for a given client. The influence of pain on behavior, particularly in clients who cannot communicate about their pain, must be assessed before treatments can be selected. Similarly, evidence-based practitioners identify how abuse history and seizure activity should influence treatment selection.
Reinforcing Effects of Binary Mixtures of Common Bath Salt Constituents: Studies with 3,4-Methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV), 3,4-Methylenedioxymethcathinone (methylone), and Caffeine in Rats.

Bath salts use is associated with high rates of abuse, toxicity, and death. Bath salt preparations often contain mixtures of drugs including multiple synthetic cathinones (eg, 3,4-methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV) or 3,4-methylenedioxymethcathinone (methylone)) or synthetic cathinones and caffeine; however, little is known about whether interactions among bath salt constituents contribute to the abuse-related effects of bath salts preparations. This study used male Sprague–Dawley rats responding under a progressive ratio schedule to quantify the reinforcing effectiveness of MDPV, methylone, and caffeine, administered alone and as binary mixtures (n=12 per mixture). Each mixture was evaluated at four ratios (10 : 1, 3 : 1, 1 : 1, and 1 : 3) relative to the mean ED50 for each drug alone. Dose-addition analyses were used to determine the predicted, additive effect for each dose pair within each drug mixture. MDPV, methylone, and caffeine maintained responding in a dose-dependent manner, with MDPV being the most potent and effective, and caffeine being the least potent and effective of the three bath salts constituents. High levels of responding were also maintained by each of the bath salts mixtures. Although the nature of the interactions tended toward additivity for most bath salts mixtures, supra-additive (3 : 1 MDPV : caffeine, and 3 : 1 and 1 : 1 methylone : caffeine) and sub-additive (3 : 1, 1 : 1, and 1 : 3 MDPV : methylone) interactions were also observed. Together, these findings demonstrate that the composition of bath salts preparations can have an impact on both their reinforcing potency and effectiveness, and suggest that such interactions among constituent drugs could contribute to the patterns of use and effects reported by human bath salts users.
Additional Capability Being Developed from UNF-ST&DARDS Unified Database: System Analysis and Fuel Cycle Option Analysis

AbstractThe Used Nuclear Fuel Storage, Transportation & Disposal Analysis Resource and Data System (UNF-ST&DARDS) is being developed for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy by ...
Extraction, identification, and quantification of antioxidant phenolics from hazelnut (Corylus avellana L.) shells.

Abstract Hazelnut shells are the major byproduct of the hazelnut industry. The objectives of this study were to optimize the conditions for extracting phenolics and to identify and quantify the phenolics in hazelnut shells. Preliminary optimization showed that a high recovery of phenolics could be achieved with shell particle size less than 0.5 mm when extracted with acetone at 50 °C. Response surface experiments showed that a 10 g/l liquid to solid ratio, 58% acetone, and 12 h extraction time yielded the highest amount of phenolics. Twenty-seven phenolic compounds were identified in hazelnut shells by mass spectrometry. Coumaroylquinic acid, epicatechin gallate, quercetin, and six other phenolics were identified in hazelnut shells for the first time. The most abundant phenolics in hazelnut shells were catechin, epicatechin gallate, and gallic acid, as quantified by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). These results can be useful for the development of industrial extraction processes of natural antioxidants from hazelnut shells.
cuCloud: Volunteer Computing as a Service (VCaaS) System

Emerging cloud systems, such as volunteer clouds and mobile clouds, are getting momentum among the current topics that dominate the research landscape of Cloud Computing. Volunteer cloud computing is an economical, secure, and greener alternative solution to the current Cloud Computing model that is based on data centers, where tens of thousands of dedicated servers are setup to back the cloud services. This paper presents cuCloud, a Volunteer Computing as a Service (VCaaS) system that is based on the spare resources of personal computers owned by individuals and/or organizations. The paper addresses the design and implementation issues of cuCloud, including the technical details of its integration with the well-known open source IaaS cloud management system, CloudStack. The paper also presents the empirical performance evidence of cuCloud in comparison with Amazon EC2 using a big-data application based on Hadoop.
Online Orientation and Reference Course for Online Master of Science in Nursing Program

Preloading student satisfaction and success factors into an online program orientation course can strengthen the potential for student retention and success. A 100% online graduate nursing orientation and guidance program was developed. Access to peer support, faculty advisor, and university resources were provided within the course using the same learning management system as the program. Students were taught the basic structure of courses (including discussions, quizzes, and dropbox) to ease the stress of the first few weeks of class. Graduate study requirements and expectations were explained along with the differences between online and face-to-face study. Guidance was provided to assist students in balancing work, life, and study. Students report decreased anxiety and increased comfort with graduate online education, increased self confidence, and feelings of support.
Surface Structure of Nanocrystalline Oxides

Nanocrystalline oxides are novel materials with crystal sizes of < 10 nm. They give rise to unique surface structures and size-dependent properties that are useful to advanced catalytic, ceramic, and semiconducting applications. Photoacoustic Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopic (PA-FTIR) studies of nanocrystalline CeO2-x, Al2O3, andZnO are presented in this paper. The unique surface chemistry, defect structure, surface phonons, grain boundary structure, and quantum size effects exhibited in these systems are described in terms of structural engineering for potential applications.
Fire in the tropics

Why the tropics? Fire has typically been thought of as an issue within temperate and boreal ecosystems. After all, that is where most widely reported fires occur. Nearly all the money that has ever been spent on research, management, or suppression of wildfires has been spent in temperate countries, the vast majority of it in the United States. More recently, there have been growing concerns about the climate change implications of carbon emissions from large and increasingly frequent fires in boreal ecosystems. So, with most of the money being spent in the temperate zones and much of the concern about carbon cycle implications of fire focused on the boreal zones, why write a book about fire in the tropics?
Infectious and Inflammatory Metabolic Encephalopathies

The normal health and metabolism of the brain can be impaired by systemic or central nervous system infections and non-infectious inflammatory disorders of the brain. The ensuing encephalopathy can manifest by symptoms as mild as listlessness and irritability or as severe as frank coma. Whether the cause is actual infection of the brain or systemic sepsis or inflammation, the presence of encephalopathy always carries a grave prognosis. Mortality and morbidity can be as high as 30 – 100% depending on the clinical scenario, and early recognition and appropriate supportive care can sometimes provide a favorable outcome. The cause of the encephalopathy in systemic or CNS infection remains unknown. A specific therapy other than treating the infection and providing supportive care is not available. There is concern that the encephalopathy may be neuroprotective as activation of the brain during periods of deranged metabolism may lead to irreversible injury or death. When treatment of infection is successful, an uneventful recovery can occur even in patients who endured prolonged periods of coma. The intent of this chapter is not to discuss the various pathogens and their varied manifestations of brain injury, but specific patterns of pathogenesis to the extent of our understanding and the mechanisms that lead to brain dysfunction during infection or inflammation. Needless to say, the specific mechanisms of brain injury in these disorders are poorly understood in most instances, and some hypotheses are just that, hypotheses without evidence to support the theory. The focus of discussion will be on the pathogenesis and mechanisms of brain dysfunction. The reader is referred to in-depth discussions on symptoms and treatment to appropriate articles that focus on the clinical management of these disorders.
Insect and Mite Control on Nursery and Landscape Plants with Entomopathogens

Over 2,500 species of insects and mites are destructive to nursery crops in the United States (Johnson and Lyon, 1991). Likewise, there is a large and diverse number of nursery plant species used in different landscape settings and geographic regions. Nursery and landscape plants represent a complex challenge for insect control products because of the large number of plant species, insect pests, growing conditions, potting media, and production techniques (Martin, 1997).
Reduced uterine perfusion pressure causes loss of pancreatic β-cell area but normal function in fetal rat offspring.

Maternal hypertension during pregnancy is a major risk factor for intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), which increases susceptibility to cardiovascular and metabolic disease in adulthood through...
Techniques to Promote Healthy Self-Regulation in Physical Education

This article highlights mental health symptoms, applicable techniques for physical educators, and theory-based management techniques. Strategies that promote effective emotional self-regulation, su...
A study of simplified methods for longitudinal control decoupling

Using an inflight simulator, a simple longitudinal decoupling concept was compared with conventional airplane characteristics for the approach and landing tasks. The decoupling system allowed the pilot to command flight path angle changes with the stick with little or no accompanying speed change; likewise, speed changes with only small accompanying flight path changes could be made with throttle only. The unique feature of the concept is that it is an open loop (that is, nonfeedback) control system. Results indicate that in calm air and up to moderate levels of turbulence the decoupling system provides a substantial reduction in pilot workload.
Latitudinal Structure of the Meridional Overturning Circulation Variability on Interannual to Decadal Time Scales in the North Atlantic Ocean

AbstractThe latitudinal structure of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) variability in the North Atlantic is investigated using numerical results from three ocean circulation si...
Impact of Changes to the Lung Allocation System on Recipient Selection and Survival

Purpose To examine the effect of the lung allocation system changes in 2017 on recipient selection and post transplant outcomes. Methods Using the UNOS/SRTR database we identified all non multi-organ lung transplants from 7/1/16-3/31/19. Pre-change (Pre) and post-change (Post) groups were established based on the date of 11/25/17. The Pre and Post groups were compared with an analysis of variance and Chi-square test for continuous and categorical variables, respectively. Kaplan-Meier analysis and a Cox model were used to study survival. A multivariable model examined the effect on post operative extracorporeal membranous oxygenation (ECMO) at 72 hours. Results 3,254 and 3,339 lung transplants were identified in the Pre and Post groups respectively. The Post group donors and recipients were significantly older and had a higher lung allocation score and more commonly had restrictive lung disease (p Conclusion Changes to the lung allocation system have significantly increased travel and ischemic time for lungs, and appears to be associated with decreased survival at 1 year. Further investigation into the impact of policy change on practice behavior and outcomes is required.
Enabling new exploration opportunities on planetary surfaces: In situ geochemical characterization in soils by dielectric spectroscopy onboard the AXEL rover system

Abstract In the work, we present dielectric spectroscopy (DS) is an analytical method capable of characterizing and quantifying electrochemically active materials (water/ice, ions, etc.) in planetary regoliths. Detection of these materials occurs when a small amount of energy is applied to an in situ sample, causing perturbation in the form of potential kinetic energy and inducing polarization and/or relaxation processes in materials of interest. The frequency dispersion on the electrical properties of impendences, relative permittivity, and conductivity spectra represents chemical and physical properties in association with inherent material properties. Therefore, measuring these energetic states can provide a unique fingerprint of the materials, depending on the frequencies that are scanned. In the case of water content in soils, the Debye equivalent circuit model can accurately predict its electrical properties and provide excellent quantification of the water content in soils. Use of DS is enabled by miniaturization of the key components and the low power requirements. DS is therefore capable of offering substantial scientific returns as an in situ sampling and non-destructive measurement technique, making it ideally suitable for deployment onboard many smaller space exploratory platforms. This work reports the first deployment use of DS from a field test for geochemical characterization of in situ soils, specifically on the quantification of water onboard the AXEL mobility system in the Mojave Desert. Laboratory testing has confirmed the sensitivity of DS with respect to particle size (fine vs coarse) determination as well as water content (down to 0.01 ​wt%) under a wide range of environmental conditions. Water content associated with bound and bulk water was uniquely identified in the soil mixture. We also describe a field demonstration using DS using two distinct insertion dielectric probes specifically design for sub-surface measurements, verifying their mechanical robustness and chemical stability. The field measurements are in good agreement with laboratory data and effectively quantified water content at about 3.0 ​wt% and 8.0 ​wt% for field test sites #1 and #2, respectively.
Supportive management practice and intrinsic motivation go together in the public service

Drawing on over 4,000,000 individual and 2,000 agency observations across five countries, this paper examines the relationship between features of an employee's work environment and intrinsic motivation in public agencies. It finds that practices which foster employees' sense of autonomy, competence, and relatedness are associated with substantially higher levels of intrinsic motivation across a broad range of settings. This is true both at the individual and agency level and when examining changes within agency over time. These patterns appear to be at least partially a result of differential selection in and out of the agency, with lower levels of supportive practices associated with greater desire to exit for employees with higher levels of intrinsic motivation. Nonfinancial elements of job design are strongly associated with intrinsic motivation, as are potentially more difficult to alter features of an agency, such as satisfaction with compensation and managerial quality. There is also suggestive evidence that the relationship between agency practices and employee intrinsic motivation is stronger when tasks are more difficult to monitor.
Mood Disorders and Anxiety in Parkinson’s Disease: Current Concepts:

Mood disorders and anxiety significantly impact the prognosis and disease course of Parkinson's disease. Non-motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease such as apathy, anhedonia, and fatigue overlap with diagnostic criteria for anxiety and depression, thus making accurate diagnosis of mood disorders in Parkinson's disease patients difficult. Furthermore, treatment options for mood disorders can produce motor complications leading to poor adherence and impaired quality of life in Parkinson's disease patients. This review aims to clarify the current state of diagnostic and treatment options pertaining to anxiety and mood disorders in Parkinson's disease. It explores both the pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic treatment modalities for various mood disorders in comorbid Parkinson's disease with a brief discussion of the future outlook of the field given the current state of the literature.
The strong uniform consistency of kernel estimator of a smooth distribution function in censored linear regression

This paper considers the kernel estimation of a smooth error distribution function in linear regression with right-censored data. Based on the Kaplan–Meier estimator of the residual distribution, w...
Performance Nutrition for Physician Trainees Working Overnight Shifts: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Purpose To compare acute effects of 2 dietary interventions with usual dietary habits on physician trainees' alertness during overnight shifts. Method This registered, controlled, block-randomized crossover trial (NCT03698123) was conducted between October 2018 and May 2019 at Stanford Medicine. Physician trainees working at least 3 overnight shifts during a 1-week period were recruited. During the first overnight shift, participants followed their usual dietary habits. During the intervention nights (low carbohydrate-to-protein ratio and high carbohydrate-to-protein ratio interventions), participants received healthy dinners, snacks, water, and, upon request, caffeinated beverages, at the beginning of their shifts and were instructed to eat meals before 10 p.m. The sequence of interventions on the second and third nights were block-randomized across study weeks. Outcome measures (a priori) were overnight changes in validated measures of specific neurobehavioral dimensions: psychomotor vigilance, sensory-motor speed, working memory, and risk decision-making, as well as self-reported sleepiness and work exhaustion. Results Sixty-one physician trainees participated in this study. Compared to usual dietary habits, overnight changes in psychomotor vigilance scores (scale 0-1,000) improved by 51.02 points (95% confidence interval [CI]: 12.08, 89.96); sleepiness (scale 1-7) improved by 0.69 points (95% CI: 0.33, 1.05) under the low carbohydrate-to-protein ratio intervention. Compared to usual dietary habits, overnight changes in sleepiness (scale 1-7) improved by 0.61 points (95% CI: 0.25, 0.96) under the high carbohydrate-to-protein ratio intervention. Neither intervention had beneficial effects relative to usual dietary habits with respect to sensory-motor speed, working memory, risk decision-making, or work exhaustion. There were no differences in outcomes between low carbohydrate-to-protein ratio and high carbohydrate-to-protein ratio interventions. Conclusions Dietary interventions may mitigate negative effects of physician trainee sleep deprivation during overnight shifts. Future studies are warranted to further examine the effectiveness of nutritional strategies on physician alertness during overnight shifts.
Variability in Melanoma Metalloproteinase Expression Profiling

The proteolytic activities of a disintegrin and metalloproteinase (ADAM); a disintegrin and metalloproteinase with thrombospondin motifs (ADAMTS), and matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) families play important roles in normal and multiple pathological conditions. These metalloproteases have potential roles in the degradation of the ECM and in the processing of bioactive molecules. In the present study, RNA was isolated from multiple normal fibroblast and metastatic melanoma cell lines, as well as the isogenic normal tissue and tumor samples, and the gene expression levels of six ADAMs, eight MMPs, and four ADAMTSs were analyzed by real-time PCR. This approach allowed for detected changes in mRNA expression of the individual metalloproteinase genes to be compared between normal and metastatic states and also between tissue and cultured cells. Increased gene expression of several ADAM and MMP family members (MMP1, MMP8, MMP15, and ADAM15) occurred in melanoma tissue and was replicated in tissue cultures. In general, the level of ADAM and MMP mRNA expression was several-fold higher in cultured cells compared with the isogenic tissue from which they were derived. Passage-dependent expression patterns were observed for MMP8 and MMP9 in in-house-derived metastatic melanoma cell lines. This reiterates earlier suggestions that experiments using cells that have been maintained in culture should be interpreted with great care.
Qualitative comparison of calculated turbulence responses with wind-tunnel measurements for a DC-10 derivative wing with an active control system

Comparisons are presented analytically predicted and experimental turbulence responses of a wind tunnel model of a DC-10 derivative wing equipped with an active control system. The active control system was designed for the purpose of flutter suppression, but it had additional benefit of alleviating gust loads (wing bending moment) by about 25%. Comparisions of various wing responses are presented for variations in active control system parameters and tunnel speed. The analytical turbulence responses were obtained using DYLOFLEX, a computer program for dynamic loads analyses of flexible airplanes with active controls. In general, the analytical predictions agreed reasonably well with the experimental data.
Effects of zinc-L-carnosine and vitamin E on aspirin-induced gastroduodenal injury in dogs.

Background: Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs frequently cause gastrointestinal (GI) injury. Zinc-l-carnosine has antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, mucosal protective, and healing properties in rodent models and in some human studies of GI injury. Hypothesis: The combination of zinc-l-carnosine and vitamin E attenuates aspirin-induced gastroduodenal mucosal injury. Animals: Eighteen healthy random-source Foxhound dogs. Methods: In this randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled study dogs were treated with placebo (n = 6; 0X group), 30 mg/30 IU (n = 6; 1X group), or 60 mg/60 IU (n = 6; 2X group) zinc-l-carnosine/vitamin E orally every 12 hours for 35 days. Between Day 7 and 35, GI mucosal lesions were induced with aspirin (25 mg/kg PO q8h). Mucosal injury lesions (hemorrhage, erosion, and ulcer) were assessed by gastroduodenoscopy on Days 14, 21, and 35 with a 12-point scoring scale. Results: At baseline (Day −1) gastroscopy scores were not significantly different between groups (mean ± SD: 0X, 4.4 ± 0.8; group 1X, 4.4 ± 0.6; group 2X, 4.2 ± 0.3; P= .55). Gastroscopy scores increased significantly in all groups between Day −1 and Days 14, 21, and 35 (P < .0001). On Day 35, gastroscopy scores were 29.2 ± 5.2 (0X), 27.3 ± 3.7 (1X), and 28.6 ± 3.3 (2X). Mean gastroscopy scores were not significantly different among treatment groups on any of the days (P= .61). Conclusions and Clinical Importance: Administration of the combination of zinc-l-carnosine and vitamin E at 1X or 2X dosing did not attenuate aspirin-induced gastroduodenal mucosal injury.
Impact of Business and Corporate Practices on Health

Business and corporate practices play an increasingly important role in shaping population health. They influence every aspect of human experience, from diet, air pollution, work, and health care to personal identity, lifestyle, sexuality, and governance. Businesses influence health through various pathways, including the impact of their production practices on the health of workers and the larger environment, their products on the health and lifestyle of consumers, and their political practices on governance and the ability of the state and civil society to protect public health. Businesses have both positive and negative influences on health; the goal of public health is to propose and implement policies and programs that maximize the former while minimizing the latter. In response to the growing power of corporations to shape health, a variety of countervailing forces have emerged. These include global alliances of governments and civil society groups that set standards for corporate behaviors that influence health, non-governmental organizations that take action to promote corporate social responsibility for health, government regulation, and social movements and advocacy campaigns to modify harmful business practices. Keywords: commodity; corporations; health; health lifestyles; public health
Prediction of pilot opinion ratings using an optimal pilot model

A brief review of some of the more pertinent applications of analytical pilot models to the prediction of aircraft handling qualities is undertaken. The relative ease with which multiloop piloting tasks can be modeled via the optimal control formulation makes the use of optimal pilot models particularly attractive for handling qualities research. To this end, a rating hypothesis is introduced which relates the numerical pilot opinion rating assigned to a particular vehicle and task to the numerical value of the index of performance resulting from an optimal pilot modeling procedure as applied to that vehicle and task. This hypothesis is tested using data from piloted simulations and is shown to be reasonable. An example concerning a helicopter landing approach is introduced to outline the predictive capability of the rating hypothesis in multiaxis piloting tasks.
Accurate Solution to Overdetermined Linear Equations with Errors Using L1 Norm Minimization

It has been known for many years that a robust solution to an overdetermined system of linear equations Ax a b is obtained by minimizing the L1 norm of the residual error. A correct solution x to the linear system can often be obtained in this way, in spite of large errors (outliers) in some elements of the (m × n) matrix A and the data vector b. This is in contrast to a least squares solution, where even one large error will typically cause a large error in x. In this paper we give necessary and sufficient conditions that the correct solution is obtained when there are some errors in A and b. Based on the sufficient condition, it is shown that if k rows of [A b] contain large errors, the correct solution is guaranteed if (m − n)/n ≥ 2k/σ, where σ > 0, is a lower bound of singular values related to A. Since m typically represents the number of measurements, this inequality shows how many data points are needed to guarantee a correct solution in the presence of large errors in some of the data. This inequality is, in fact, an upper bound, and computational results are presented, which show that the correct solution will be obtained, with high probability, for much smaller values of m − n.
Mechanisms of Spindle-Pole Organization Are Influenced by Kinetochore Activity in Mammalian Cells

The spindle is a fusiform bipolar-microtubule array that is responsible for chromosome segregation during mitosis. Focused poles are an essential feature of spindles in vertebrate somatic cells, and pole focusing has been shown to occur through a centrosome-independent self-organization mechanism where microtubule motors cross-link and focus microtubule minus ends. Most of our understanding of this mechanism for pole focusing derives from studies performed in cell-free extracts devoid of centrosomes and kinetochores. Here, we examine how sustained force from kinetochores influences the mechanism of pole focusing in cultured cells. We show that the motor-driven self-organization activities associated with NuMA (i.e., cytoplasmic dynein) and HSET are not necessary for pole focusing if sustained force from kinetochores is inhibited in Nuf2- or Mis12-deficient cells. Instead, pole organization relies on TPX2 as it cross-links spindle microtubules to centrosome-associated mitotic asters. Thus, both motor-driven and static-cross-linking mechanisms contribute to spindle-pole organization, and kinetochore activity influences the mechanism of spindle-pole organization. The motor-driven self-organization of microtubule minus ends at spindle poles is needed to organize spindle poles in vertebrate somatic cells when kinetochores actively exert force on spindle microtubules.
Hetero-atom substituted chromium allyls: Synthetic studies on neocarzinostatin chromophore analogues

Abstract The preparation and reactions of hetero-atom substituted chromium allyls derived from 7a, 7b, 12, and 15 are described in connection with studies on the synthesis of neocarzinostatin analogues.
Volume Kinetics – Pharmacokinetics for Fluids

SUMMARY Fluid therapy is a main component in the management of critically ill patients. Unfortunately, a considerable number of patients receive excessive fluid therapy that results in volume overload and organ dysfunction. There is an obvious need for a more refined scientific method to replace the more or less precise “rules-of-thumb.” A new approach to fluid therapy-volume kinetics-is the first adaptation of pharmacokinetic theory that allows the behavior of fluid volumes administered during intravenous therapy to be analyzed and simulated.
Adaptive dynamics of competition for nutritionally complementary resources: character convergence, displacement, and parallelism.

AbstractConsumers acquire essential nutrients by ingesting the tissues of resource species. When these tissues contain essential nutrients in a suboptimal ratio, consumers may benefit from ingesting a mixture of nutritionally complementary resource species. We investigate the joint ecological and evolutionary consequences of competition for complementary resources, using an adaptive dynamics model of two consumers and two resources that differ in their relative content of two essential nutrients. In the absence of competition, a nutritionally balanced diet rarely maximizes fitness because of the dynamic feedbacks between uptake rate and resource density, whereas in sympatry, nutritionally balanced diets maximize fitness because competing consumers with different nutritional requirements tend to equalize the relative abundances of the two resources. Adaptation from allopatric to sympatric fitness optima can generate character convergence, divergence, and parallel shifts, depending not on the degree of diet...
A petrogenetic grid for pelitic schists in the system SiO 2 -Al 2 O 3 -FeO-MgO-K 2 O-H 2 O

A quantitative petrogenetic grid for pelitic schists in the system KFMASH that includes the phases garnet, chlorite, biotite, chloritoid, cordierite, staurolite, talc, kyanite, andalusite, sillimanite, and pyrophyllite (with quartz, H2O and muscovite or K-feldspar in excess) is presented. The grid is based on thermodynamic data of Berman et al. (1985) and Berman (1988) for endmember KFASH and KMASH equilibria and natural Fe-Mg partitioning for the KFMASH system. Calculation of P-T slopes and the change in Fe/(Fe+Mg) along reactions in the KFMASH system were made using the Gibbs method. In addition, the effect on the grid of MnO and CaO is evaluated quantitatively. The resulting grid is consistent with typical Buchan and Barrovian parageneses at medium to high grades. At low grades, the grid predicts an extensive stability field for the paragenesis chloritoid+biotite which arises because of the unusual facing of the reaction chloritoid+biotite + quartz+H2O = garnet+chlorite+muscovite, which proceeds to the right with increasing T in the KFMASH system. However, the reaction proceeds to the left with increasing T in the MnKFASH system so the assemblage chloritoid + biotite is restricted to bulk compositions with high Fe/(Fe+Mg+Mn). Typical metapelites will therefore contain garnet+chlorite at low grades rather than chloritoid + biotite.
Carbon Nanotubes as a Cold Electron Beam Source for Pseudospark Plasma Switches and Pulsed Power Applications

In this paper, application of carbon nanotube coated cold cathodes for high-voltage, high-current, plasma switches for pulsed power applications is reported. We have fabricated and characterized a pseudospark switch with a carbon nanotube coated cold cathode as an electron beam source for controlling the switch. The demonstrated cold cathode triggered pseudospark switch is free from severe thermal management difficulties unlike switches relying on thermionic electron emission for triggering. This device requires a low trigger voltage and a low electron current emitted from carbon nanotubes for turning on a high-voltage switch, and is very compact, while potentially capable of controlling a relatively high-voltage when gases such as hydrogen instead of argon which was used for this test device to fill the switch.
Baryons in lattice QCD at strong coupling

Abstract Lattice QCD with euclidean Susskind fermions and gauge group SU( N ) is transformed into a statistical mechanical system of dimers and baryons for infinite coupling. For even N the baryons are bosons, all configurations have positive weights, and the system can be simulated in a straightforward way. The original quark determinant is fully and exactly taken into account. As a byproduct chiral symmetry breaking and stability against spontaneous breakdown of baryon number conservation is verified.
Patterns of stress, disease and mortality in two prehistoric populations from North American

Abstract Archaeological data from the Dickson Mounds site was employed to reconstruct the cultural-ecological context of two prehistoric American Indian populations. These populations were identified as the Mississippian Acculturated Late Woodland (A.D. 1050–1200) and the Spoon River Focus of the Middle Mississippian (A.D. 1200–1300). The cultural-ecological data was then employed to interpret some of the biological parameters of the two skeletal populations. The cultural-ecological variables included: (a) subsistence technology; (b) population density and degree of sedentarism; and (c) the extent and intensity of contacts with surrounding social groups. The biological parameters included: (a) infectious disease; (b) micro-structural dental defects; and (c) mortality. The results of the analysis suggested that as alterations occurred in the cultural-ecological adaptations of the populations in the form of an increased reliance upon maize agriculture, an increase in population density and sedentarism, and an increase in social contacts; there occurred an increase in the frequency of infectious disease, micro-structural dental defects and mortality.
The Stokes efficiency for molecular motors and its applications

In many experiments it is only possible to load a molecular motor by manipulating the viscous drag from the fluid medium. In these situations, it is not clear how to measure the efficiency of energy transduction. Here we define the Stokes efficiency as the average viscous drag times the average velocity divided by the rate of free-energy consumption. We show that this efficiency is bounded by 100% and thus is well defined. We compare the Stokes efficiency with the usual thermodynamic efficiency, and discuss what information it provides about the motor mechanism.
Woven fabric composite material model with material nonlinearity for nonlinear finite element simulation

Abstract The objective of the current investigation is to develop a simple, yet generalized, model which considers the two-dimensional extent of woven fabric, and to have an interface with nonlinear finite element codes. A micromechanical composite material model for woven fabric with nonlinear stress-strain relations is developed and implemented in ABAQUS for nonlinear finite element structural analysis. Within the model a representative volume cell is assumed. Using the iso-stress and iso-strain assumptions the constitutive equations are averaged along the thickness direction. The cell is then divided into many subcells and an averaging is performed again by assuming uniform stress distribution in each subcell to obtain the effective stress–strain relations of the subcell. The stresses and strains within the subcells are combined to yield the effective stresses and strains in the representative cell. Then this information is passed to the finite element code at each material point of the shell element. In this manner structural analysis of woven composites can be performed. Also, at each load increment global stresses and strains are communicated to the representative cell and subsequently distributed to each subcell. Once stresses and strains are associated to a subcell they can be distributed to each constituent of the subcell i.e. fill, warp, and resin. Consequently micro-failure criteria (MFC) can be defined for each constituent of a subcell and the proper stiffness degradation can be modeled if desired. This material model is suitable for implicit and could be modified for explicit finite element codes to deal with problems such as crashworthiness, impact, and failure analysis under static loads.
Effect of chronic administration of an oral contraceptive on the blood pressure of rats.

Abstract Dietary administration of the oral contraceptive, Enovid, to female rats at 7.5 mg/kg of food (420 mg/kg body weight/day) for 20 weeks was accompanied by an elevation of systolic blood pressure and an increase in the ratios of both heart weight to body weight and renal weight to body weight. A second study, in which Enovid was administered at the same dose for 24 weeks revealed significant increases in systolic, diastolic and mean blood pressures of treated female rats measured by direct cannulation of the carotid artery. A third study tested the effect of the same dose of Enovid on systolic blood pressure of female rats receiving 0.15 m NaCl solution as their sole drinking fluid. The first significant elevation of blood pressure in these rats occurred during week 6 of drug treatment and continued for the remainder of the 12-week experiment. The ratio of heart weight to body weight was also increased significantly in the treated group. Thus, chronic administration of Enovid at the dosage used was accompanied by hypertension in rats.
Factorial Analysis on the 2-D Transient Solid Velocity in Fluidized Bed Combustor

The transient solid velocity analysis in fluidized bed combustor (FBC) freeboard has been critical in the past two decades (Haidin et al 1998). The FBC cold model (6-in ID) was designed and fabricated. The solid transient velocity in FBC freeboard was measured and analyzed with the assistance of the advanced instrumentation. The laser-based Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) was applied to the FBC cold model to visualize the transient solid velocity. A series of transient particle velocity profiles were generated for factorial analysis. In each profile, the particle velocity vectors for 100 position points were in the format of Vx and Vy . Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to determine the significant factors that affect the transient particle velocities, time, and position coordinates. Then, the 1010 factorial design method was used to develop a specific empirical model of transient particle velocity in FBC freeboard which was in the shape of Vx = f1 (t, x, y), and Vy = f2 (t, x, y). This unique factorial analysis method was proved to be very effective and practical to evaluate the experimental conditions and analyze the experimental results in FBC systems.Copyright © 2003 by ASME
Face Out: The Effect of Book Displays on Collection Usage

Business librarians at Brigham Young University's Harold B. Lee Library are confronted with considerable and consistent declines in usage of print books in business and economic disciplines. Inspired by commercial businesses, where in-store displays are commonly used to increase sales, business librarians decided to highlight the library's business and economics collections by creating book displays. The study revealed that displays produced a substantial increase in circulation. Prior to the displays, featured books had an average usage of less than four times per year; after these books were featured in the displays, their usage per year increased by 58%.
Culture phenotype affects on regeneration capacity in the monocotHaworthia comptoniana

Haworthia comptoniana specimens were cultured to determine how benzyladenine (BA) level and in vitro selection for shoot and callus production affected regeneration capacity and plant phenotype. Leaf explants were cultured on Murashige and Skoog medium containing 0 to 10 mg·liter−1 of BA. The highest number of shoots was obtained with 0.5 mg·liter−1 of BA.H. comptoniana stock cultures (hc) maintained with 0.5 mg·liter−1 of BA produced clumps of small shoots interspersed with friable, white, tan, and green callus. A clump of very large shoots was isolated and designated cell line Rhc; it differed from the original hc culture in shoot size, the lack of callus growth, and higher water content. A line of green callus (designated Gc), a line of white callus (Wc), and a line of soft tan callus (Tc) were also isolated from hc. Optimal BA levels for shoot regeneration from lines Gc and Wc were 2 and 5 mg·liter−1, respectively. No normal shoots could be regenerated from Tc. The phenotypes of these cell lines remained stable for 24 subculture generations. The hc line that initially required BA for growth became hormone autotrophic whereas the other lines did not. Culturing using Gelrite and sealing vessels with parafilm promoted vitrification of the hc line. Culturing using GIBCO agar and unsealed vessels reduced vitrification. The ex-vitro greenhouse survival rates for hc and Rhc plantlets were 10 and 80%, respectively. The large size of the Rhc shoots apparently resulted in significantly higher survival rates under greenhouse conditions, but did not result in any phenotypic whole plant changes.