cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Clinical implications of heterogeneity of tumor response to radiation therapy.

Heterogeneity of response of tumor tissue to radiation clearly exists. Major parameters include histopathologic type, size (number of tumor rescue units (TRUs)), hemoglobin concentration, cell proliferation kinetics and immune rejection reaction by host. Further, normal and presumably tumor tissue response is altered in certain genetic diseases, e.g. ataxia telangiectasia. Any assessment of response of tumor tissue to a new treatment method or the testing of a new clinical response predictor is optimally based upon a narrow strata, viz., uniform with respect to known parameters of response, e.g. size, histological type. Even among tumors of such a clinically defined narrow strata, there will be residual heterogeneity with respect to inherent cellular radiation sensitivity, distributions of pO2, (SH), cell proliferation etc. The value of a response predictor of an individual tumor will be determined by the heterogeneity of values for these and or other characteristics and by the coefficient of variation (CV) of the measured values of the individual parameters. Heterogeneity of one or more parameters of response is reflected in the slope of the dose response curve for local control, viz. the greater the heterogeneity the less steep the slope. To examine for this effect, the slope of dose response curves for control of model tumors of 10(8) tumor rescue units (TRU) and the SF2 = 0.5 (survival fraction after a single dose of 2 Gy) has been used to assess the impact of inter- and intra-tumoral variation of SF2 on slope, defined as gamma 50 values. The gamma 50 is the increase in local control expressed in percent points for a one percentage increment in dose, at the mid-point on the dose-response curve. The gamma 50 was 6.5 for CV = 0.0. For inter-tumoral CVs of 10%, 20% and 40%, the gamma 50 rapidly decreased to 2.4, 1.3 and 0.7. Intra-tumoral variation was less important, viz., for CVs of 10%, 20%, and 40% the gamma 50 values were reduced to 5.3, 3.8 and 2.2. Combining inter- and intra-tumoral variation reduced the gamma 50 only slightly below that for inter-tumoral variation alone. For example, were the CV 10% for inter- and intra-tumoral variation, the gamma 50 would be 2.1 as compared to 2.4 for inter-tumoral variation alone. The number of TRUs also affects slope, viz. gamma 50 increased from 1 to 9.7 as the TRU number increased from 10(1) to 10(12).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
HSRA: high-speed, hierarchical synchronous reconfigurable array

There is no inherent characteristic forcing Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or Reconfigurable Computing (RC) Array cycle times to be greater than processors in the same process. Modern FPGAs seldom achieve application clock rates close to their processor cousins because (1) resources in the FPGAs are not balanced appropriately for high-speed operation, (2) FPGA CAD does not automatically provide the requisite transforms to support this operation, and (3) interconnect delays can be large and vary almost continuously, complicating high frequency mapping. We introduce a novel reconfigurable computing array, the High-Speed, Hierarchical Synchronous Reconfigurable Array (HSRA), and its supporting tools. This packagedemonstrates that computing arrays can achieve efficient, high-speedoperation. We have designedand implemented a prototype component in a 0.4 m logic design on a DRAM process which will support 250MHz operation for CAD mapped designs.
Silicone synovitis of the wrist

Foreign body giant cell synovitis and focal bony destruction requiring secondary surgery developed in nine patients after carpal and radiocarpal arthroplasty with silicone rubber implants. Synovitis followed silicone rubber replacement of the lunate in four patients, the carpal scaphoid in two patients, and the trapezium in one patient, trapezial resurfacing hemiarthroplasty in one patient, and total wrist arthroplasty in one patient. All the removed implants were deformed. Some had changed in color from clear white at the time of insertion to yellow-white or deep yellow upon removal. Scanning electron microscopy of a silicone rubber implant of the lunate removed from one patient revealed extensive fibrillation in the capitate fossa. Light microscopy of the synovium revealed hyperplasia and hundreds of fragments of silicone particulate debris throughout the tissue adjacent to the implant. The silicone debris was surrounded by multinuclear foreign body giant cells in the eight patients from whom the synovium was studied. All patients required revision surgery. We believe that in the patients studied, synovitis represented a biologic reaction to the silicone fragments found scattered throughout the synovium for the following reasons: (1) The synovitis found was not present before surgery (except in the patient with rheumatoid arthritis); (2) the synovitis found was not associated with the condition for which replacement arthroplasty was performed (except in the patient with rheumatoid arthritis); (3) synovitis subsided after implants were removed; and (4) synovitis was noted histologically in areas of silicone debris and appeared directly related to silicone seeding. Fibrillation, fragmentation, and local seeding of silicone after carpal or radiocarpal arthroplasty appear related to gradual deformation of the implant, which was the result of repeated compressive loading and shearing. Clinically significant complications of rubber carpal or radiocarpal arthroplasty with silicone rubber implants may develop from silicone synovitis.
Mesoscale simulation of positive tone chemically amplified photoresists

A mesoscale computer simulation for positive tone chemically amplified resists is reported. The simulation is based upon detailed models of resist function, and the required simulation inputs are fundamental quantities that can be measured independently of lithographic performance. These input parameters include resist formulation variables such as polymer molecular weight, photoacid generator loading, and activation energy of the deprotection reaction, as well as processing variables such as temperature and duration of bake steps and developer concentration. The simulation can model all major resist processing steps: spincoat and post apply bake, exposure, post exposure bake, dissolution, and drying. The general approach involves representing the photoresist film on a three dimensional lattice. Some lattice sites represent acid or solvent molecules and other lattice sites are strung together to form polymer chains. Each lattice cell is considered individually during the simulation, and each behaves in a manner consistent with its chemical identity. The mesoscale nature of the model allows investigation of stochastic effects that lead to line edge roughness, such as shot noise during exposure and the finite size of resist molecules. The model is based upon extensive experimental studies, and has now yielded results that are qualitatively correct for all major lithographic processing steps.
Wear Behavior of W-DLC Coating Under Reciprocating Sliding Motion

Tungsten containing diamond like coatings have been used to improve reliability and durability of rubbing surfaces, thus their degradation becomes critical to predict component life. The gradual wear of such coatings is studied in this work using a high frequency reciprocating rig with the ball (coated)-flat configuration. In order to study the relationship between wear behavior and coating properties, two deposition recipes are used to deposit coatings on steel balls and these specimens have been tested in an interrupted manner under the same loading, frequency, and lubrication conditions. The coating wear quantified by measuring the wear scar on the balls with a surface profilometer shows nonlinear relationship with sliding distance. Recipe B with more Tungsten content in the top layer has better wear resistance.Copyright © 2005 by ASME
Δ6-, stearoyl CoA-, and Δ5-desaturase enzymes are expressed in β-cells and are altered by increases in exogenous PUFA concentrations

Abstract In the evolution of Type II diabetes, an initial period of hyper-fatty acidemia leads to an insulin secretory defect which triggers overt hyperglycemia and frank diabetes. The mechanism by which elevated free fatty acids contribute to β-cell dysfunction, however, is not clearly understood. We recently reported that arachidonic acid (20:4) or linoleic acid (18:2) supplementations result in increases in abundances of long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids in INS-1 β-cell membrane lipids, suggesting that β-cells express desaturases that catalyze generation of unsaturated fatty acids. As expression of desaturases by β-cells has not yet been addressed, we initiated studies to examine this issue using INS-1 β-cells and find that they express messages for the Δ6-, stearoyl CoA-, and Δ5-desaturase. Supplementation of the INS-1 β-cells with arachidonic acid leads to decreased expression of all three desaturases, presumably in response to the decreased need for endogenous generation of unsaturated fatty acids. In contrast, linoleic acid supplementation promoted minimal changes in the three desaturases. These findings demonstrate for the first time that β-cells express regulatable desaturases. Additionally, reverse transcriptase–polymerase chain reaction analyses reveal expression of the desaturases in native pancreatic islets. It might be speculated that long-term elevations in fatty acids can also adversely influence desaturase activity in β-cells and affect PUFA composition in β-cell membranes contributing to β-cell membrane structural abnormalities and altered secretory function.
Transport of cortisol by cultured chronic lymphocytic leukemic lymphocytes.

Die Aufnahme von Cortisol in Lymphozyten wird durch ein thermolabiles Plasmaprotein begunstigt.
Synthesis and characterization of insulin-fluorescein derivatives for bioanalytical applications.

Human insulin was labeled with fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) and fully characterized to yield four distinct insulin−FITC species. High-performance liquid chromatography and electrospray mass spectrometry were used to determine the extent and location of fluorescein conjugation. By changing the reaction conditions (i.e., pH, time, and FITC/insulin ratio) the selectivity of the fluorescein conjugation was altered, and all conjugates could be separated. The isolated species of insulin−FITC were labeled at the following residues: A1(Gly), B1(Phe), A1(Gly)B1(Phe), and A1(Gly)B1(Phe)B29(Lys). All four insulin−FITC conjugates were then used to develop fluorescence polarization binding assays with monoclonal and polyclonal anti-insulin antibodies. The assay sensitivity differed between the conjugates depending on the site of modification (B1 > A1 > A1B1 > A1B1B29). Also, the type of antibody used had an important role in the binding of insulin−FITC conjugates. Finally, for the first time the biological activ...
Interference due to shared features between action plans is influenced by working memory span

In this study, we examined the interactions between the action plans that we hold in memory and the actions that we carry out, asking whether the interference due to shared features between action plans is due to selection demands imposed on working memory. Individuals with low and high working memory spans learned arbitrary motor actions in response to two different visual events (A and B), presented in a serial order. They planned a response to the first event (A) and while maintaining this action plan in memory they then executed a speeded response to the second event (B). Afterward, they executed the action plan for the first event (A) maintained in memory. Speeded responses to the second event (B) were delayed when it shared an action feature (feature overlap) with the first event (A), relative to when it did not (no feature overlap). The size of the feature-overlap delay was greater for low-span than for high-span participants. This indicates that interference due to overlapping action plans is greater when fewer working memory resources are available, suggesting that this interference is due to selection demands imposed on working memory. Thus, working memory plays an important role in managing current and upcoming action plans, at least for newly learned tasks. Also, managing multiple action plans is compromised in individuals who have low versus high working memory spans.
Decoupling capacitor design strategy for minimizing supply noise of ultra low voltage circuits

Supply noise is a critical problem for the robust operation of integrated circuits at ultra low voltage regimes. Although decoupling capacitance is a traditional solution, the reduction of gate capacitance at subthreshold voltage can cause area overhead. In this paper, we propose a decoupling capacitor design strategy to reduce area overhead. The strategy consists of two parts: 1) enhancing gate capacitance through circuit optimizations and 2) using remote decoupling capacitors. Remote decoupling capacitors, which can be placed far from the block to compensate, can minimize the area overhead of the capacitance-enhancing optimizations. They also exploit less utilizable silicon area. The proposed strategy improves the capacitance density by 6.1 x without extra process steps, compared to the conventional approach. The gained robustness may be traded off for higher energy efficiency.
A procedure for on-line adaptation in linear control systems

This paper investigates a procedure for on-line adaptation in linear control systems. This is accomplished by the use of a digital adaptive loop, which adjusts its parameters to satisfy a given performance measure. Few assumptions are made about the unknown parameters in the plant—only knowledge of loose bounds on the variations may be needed. Estimates are made of these parameters and the effects of the estimates illustrated. A simple example is presented to illustrate the adaption procedure and the performance of the system under such a procedure.
Eight polymorphic microsatellite markers isolated from the widespread avian louse Colpocephalum turbinatum (Phthiraptera: Amblycera: Menoponidae).

We report eight novel microsatellite loci for Colpocephalum turbinatum, a parasitic louse of the endangered Galapagos hawk (Buteo galapagoensis). Two island populations of C. turbinatum (N = 30) were genotyped for each locus. We found between two and 12 alleles per locus, polymorphic information content from 0.268 to 0.798, observed heterozygosity from 0.067 to 0.667 and no linkage disequilibrium was detected between loci. These markers will be useful in understanding contemporary gene flow of C. turbinatum among islands in the Galapagos and in understanding transmission dynamics between B. galapagoensis hosts, within and between social groups. Because this louse is unusually widespread among avian host taxa, parasitizing at least 53 bird species in the Falconiformes, Strigiformes and Columbiformes, these markers are likely to be useful outside the context of the Galapagos Islands.
Microstructures of Polybutadienes and Butadiene-Styrene Copolymers

Abstract Polybutadienes and butadiene-styrene copolymers were prepared to study the effect of recipe variables on the physical properties and to learn whether there are correlations between the microstructures and physical properties. The changes in the microstructure of emulsion polybutadienes and butadiene-styrene copolymers of the types studied, which can be produced by either recipe variables or changes in temperature, are limited. The maximum amount of cis-1,4-addition amounted to 23 per cent (in the butadiene part of butadienestyrene copolymers) at 100° C, the maximum amount of trans-1,4- was about 80 per cent at −35° C, and the maximum amount of 1,2-addition was about 20 per cent. While the amount of cis-1,4-addition increases with increasing temperature, it is unlikely that polymers containing even 50 per cent cis-1,4-addition can be made at practical temperatures in emulsion systems. The structures of polybutadienes may be changed markedly by alkali-metal catalysts. The structure is affected by t...
Estradiol valerate and dienogest: a novel four-phasic oral contraceptive pill effective for pregnancy prevention and treatment of heavy menstrual bleeding

Estradiol valerate and dienogest have been combined to create a novel four-phasic oral contraceptive pill effective for both pregnancy prevention and treatment of heavy menstrual bleeding. This formulation represents the only oral contraceptive pill available in the USA containing an estrogen component that is biologically active as the endogenous estrogen 17β-estradiol. This medication was developed out of efforts to replace the most common estrogen in contraceptive pills, ethinyl estradiol, which is known to be a potent inducer of hepatic protein synthesis. Estradiol valerate has been available since the 1970s in oral and injectable forms indicated for the treatment of menopausal climacteric symptoms. Dienogest has been used in other oral contraceptive pills for over 10 years. Previous attempts to develop an oral contraceptive pill with natural estradiol or estradiol valerate were unsuccessful due to poor cycle control. A novel dynamic-dosing regimen was devised to improve the bleeding pattern. This med...
Decomposition of binary morphological structuring elements based on genetic algorithms

Most image processing architectures adapted to morphological operations use structuring elements of a limited size. Various algorithms have been developed for decomposing a large sized structuring element into dilations of small structuring components. However, these decompositions often come with certain restricted conditions. In this paper, we present an improved technique using genetic algorithms to decompose arbitrarily shaped binary structuring elements. The specific initial population, fitness functions, dynamic threshold adaptation, and the recursive size reduction strategy are our features to enhance the performance of decomposition. It can generate the solution in less computational costs, and is suited for parallel implementation.
Hyperspectral remote sensing analysis of short rotation woody crops grown with controlled nutrient and irrigation treatments

Abstract - Hyperspectral remote sensing research was conducted to document the biophysical and biochemical characteristics of controlled forest plots subjected to various nutrient and irrigation treatments. The experimental plots were located on the Savannah River Site near Aiken, SC. AISA hyperspectral imagery were analysed using three approaches, including: (1) normalized difference vegetation index based simple linear regression (NSLR), (2) partial least squares regression (PLSR) and (3) machine-learning regression trees (MLRT) to predict the biophysical and biochemical characteristics of the crops (leaf area index, stem biomass and five leaf nutrients concentrations). The calibration and cross-validation results were compared between the three techniques. The PLSR approach generally resulted in good predictive performance. The MLRT approach appeared to be a useful method to predict characteristics in a complex environment (i.e. many tree species and numerous fertilization and/or irrigation treatments) due to its powerful adaptability.
Experimental Analyses of the Shaping of the Neural Plate and Tube

Understanding the changing morphology of an embryo presents special challenges. Analyses of neurulation in vertebrate embryos described here required observation from sectioned material and from time-lapse movies, modeling, computer simulation, and experiments. All these approaches were essential, and each approach helped guide the use of the others. Experiments have the special role of letting the embryo decide between our alternative hypotheses. In the newt embryo, induction and patterning events establish in the ectoderm boundaries between epidermis and neural plate, and between neural plate and the notoplate at its midline. Thedifferent domains of cells thus established—epidermis, neural plate and notoplate—develop different adhesive properties such that cell motility behavior along the notoplate boundary and along the spinal cord/epidermis boundary produces forceful intercalation of cells which lengthens the boundaries and distorts (lengthens) the neuroepithelium. Neural plate cells also attempt to crawl beneath the epidermis along their common boundary, raising neural folds and producing a rolling moment directed mediad that is largely responsible for neural tube formation. Both cell motility that leads to columnarization of neural plate cells and contraction of organized subapical microfilament bundles reduce the apical surface area of the neural plate cells and produce an apical tension that aids neural tube formation. Cell relocation reduces the width of the neural plate and increases its length, and the Poisson buckling forces resulting from this elongation of the plate also aid neural tube formation. The newt embryo accomplishes neurulation without growth, but bird and mammal embryos grow during neurulation. Understanding the organization of the products of growth in the amniote neural plate is critical in determining whether growth helps or hinders neurulation.
Resonantly excited regular and chaotic motions in a rectangular wave tank

The resonant excitation of surface waves inside a rectangular wave tank of arbitrary water depth with a flap-type wavemaker on one side is considered. Depending on the length and width of the tank relative to the sinusoidal forcing frequency of the wave paddle, three classes of resonant mechanisms can be identified. The first two are the well-known synchronous, resonantly forced longitudinal standing waves and the subharmonic, parametrically excited transverse (cross) waves. These have been studied by a number of investigators, notably in deep water. The governing equations are re-derived and show good comparisons with the experimental data of Lin & Howard (1960). The third class is new and involves the simultaneous resonance of the synchronous longitudinal and subharmonic cross-waves and their internal interactions. In this case, temporal chaotic motions are found for a broad range of parameter values and initial conditions. These are studied by local bifurcation and stability analysis, direct numerical simulations, estimations of the Lyapunov exponents and power spectra and examination of Poincare surfaces. To obtain a global criterion for widespread chaos, the method of resonance overlap (Chirikov 1979) is adopted and found to be remarkably effective.
Effect of Ferric Hydroxide Suspension on Blood Chemistry in the Common Shiner, Notropus cornutus

Abstract Common shiners, Notropus cornutus, were exposed to 3 ppm ferric hydroxide for periods from two to eight weeks. Ferric hydroxide resulted in initial changes in serum protein, glucose, Na and K ions, but these changes did not adversely affect the internal dynamics of the fish.
Seeding of helical modes in the initial region of an axisymmetric jet

Active control of fundamental two- and three-dimensional amplified modes in an axisymmetric jet is presented. This is done by introducing localized acoustic disturbances produced by an azimuthal array of miniature speakers placed in the close proximity of the jet lip on the exit face. The independent control of each speaker output allows different azimuthal amplitude and phase distributions of periodic input pressure disturbances. Coupled with this was the development and use of a circular smoke-wire for visualizing shear layer modes around the complete jet circumference.
Contrasting effects of FLIPL overexpression in human T cells on activation‐induced cell death and cytokine production

There have been disparate findings about the role of FLIP in the survival of mouse T cells and human tumor cell lines. The role of cellular FLIP in human T cell activation and function needs to be clarified further. To study this role, we have overexpressed long transcript FLIP (FLIPL) in primary T cells, including self-antigen-reactive, melanoma-specific T cells. We found that FLIPL overexpression protects human T cells from activation-induced cell death and enhances their proliferative capacity but suppresses the ability of these cells to produce the proinflammatory cytokines IL-2 and IFN-gamma in response to CD3 or antigen-specific stimulation. The multiple effects of FLIPL indicate that this protein may influence T cell responses to antigenic stimulation.
Adaptive Lyapunov-Based Control of a Robot and Mass–Spring System Undergoing an Impact Collision

The control of dynamic systems that undergo an impact collision is both theoretically challenging and of practical importance. An appeal of studying systems that undergo an impact is that short-duration effects such as high stresses, rapid dissipation of energy, and fast acceleration and deceleration may be achieved from low-energy sources. However, colliding systems present a difficult control challenge because the equations of motion are different when the system suddenly transitions from a noncontact state to a contact state. In this paper, an adaptive nonlinear controller is designed to regulate the states of two dynamic systems that collide. The academic example of a planar robot colliding with an unactuated mass-spring system is used to represent a broader class of such systems. The control objective is defined as the desire to command a robot to collide with an unactuated system and regulate the mass to a desired compressed state while compensating for the unknown constant system parameters. Lyapunov-based methods are used to develop a continuous adaptive controller that yields asymptotic regulation of the mass and robot links. It is interesting to note that one controller is responsible for achieving the control objective when the robot is in free motion (i.e., decoupled from the mass-spring system), when the systems collide, and when the system dynamics are coupled.
Thermal stress-induced thermoplastic composite debonding, studied by contact electrical resistance measurement

Abstract Thermal stress-induced debonding of polyphenylenesulfide from polyphenylenesulfide was studied nondestructively by measurement of the contact electrical resistance between members containing continuous unidirectional carbon fibers at 90°. The resistance increased by up to 600% upon debonding. The resistance increase was much greater than the resistance decrease during prior bonding. Debonding occurred during cooling when the pressure or temperature during prior bonding was not sufficiently high.
Pulmonary Artery Stenosis Associated with Ductus Arteriosus Following Maternal Rubella

Nine patients with pulmonary artery stenosis associated with patent ductus arteriosus following maternal rubella are described. Five of the patients had bilateral pulmonary artery stenosis and four cases involved only the right pulmonary artery. Mild pulmonary valvular stenosis was present in five and a ventricular septal defect in one. The persistence of a systolic murmur transmitted to the lateral chest wall, after ligation or division of a patent ductus arteriosus, should arouse suspicion of the presence of pulmonary artery stenosis. This report supports the recently described implication of maternal rubella as a cause of pulmonary artery stenosis. Careful auscultation in patients with history of maternal rubella may discover the presence of such an arterial anomaly, but cardiac catheterization and angiocardiography are necessary for substantiation of diagnosis. The natural history of these lesions is not known.
Fuel-Optimal Maneuvers for Constrained Relative Satellite Orbits

This research investigates strategies to enable a deputy satellite to hover within a defined volume fixed in the vicinity of a chief satellite in a circular orbit for an extended period of time. Previous research developed initial methodologies for maintaining restricted teardrop hover orbits that exist in a plane fixed within the chief's local reference frame. These methods use the natural drift of the deputy satellite in the relative frame and impulsive thrust to keep the deputy in a bounded volume relative to the chief, but do not address fuel optimality. This research extends and enhances that work by finding the optimal trajectories produced with discrete thrusts that minimize fuel spent per unit time and stay within the user-defined volume, thus providing a practical hover capability in the vicinity of the chief. The work assumes that the Clohessy―Wiltshire closeness assumption between the deputy and chief is valid. Using the new methodology developed in this work, feasible closed- and nonclosed-relative orbits are found and evaluated based on a fuel criterion and are compared with an easily calculated continuous-thrust baseline. It is shown that in certain scenarios (generally corresponding to a smaller total time of flight) a discrete-thrust solution provides a lower overall fuel cost than a continuous-thrust solution. A simple check is proposed that enables the mission planner to make the correct strategy choice.
First principles scheme to evaluate band edge positions in potential transition metal oxide photocatalysts and photoelectrodes

The positions of electronic band edges are one important metric for determining a material's capability to function in a solar energy conversion device that produces fuels from sunlight. In particular, the position of the valence band maximum (conduction band minimum) must lie lower (higher) in energy than the oxidation (reduction) reaction free energy in order for these reactions to be thermodynamically favorable. We present first principles quantum mechanics calculations of the band edge positions in five transition metal oxides and discuss the feasibility of using these materials in photoelectrochemical cells that produce fuels, including hydrogen, methane, methanol, and formic acid. The band gap center is determined within the framework of DFT+U theory. The valence band maximum (conduction band minimum) is found by subtracting (adding) half of the quasiparticle gap obtained from a non-self-consistent GW calculation. The calculations are validated against experimental data where possible; results for several materials including manganese(II) oxide, iron(II) oxide, iron(III) oxide, copper(I) oxide and nickel(II) oxide are presented.
Receiver Offset Cancellation in 90-nm PLD Integrated SERDES

A wide-range transceiver was designed and fabricated in a 90-nm TSMC CMOS logic process. Each transceiver channel contains a transmitter and receiver with clock data recovery (CDR) circuit. The range of operation for this transceiver is from 622 Mbps to 6.5 Gbps. Voltage offsets in the receive path degrade the performance of the transceiver by putting a lower bound on the precision with which a data bit can be measured In addition to raising the minimum input voltage that can be correctly detected by the CDR, offsets in receive path cause duty cycle distortion, which, added with inter symbol interference (ISI), reduce the overall margin of data recovery directly worsening the bit error rate (BER). Presented in this paper is a methodology to cancel voltage offsets in the receive path with a soft intellectual property (IP) core programmed in the PLD.
A curriculum in critical care medicine for maternal-fetal medicine fellows.

Objective: Critical care education in maternal-fetal medicine has typically been limited or has been driven entirely by clinical cases. A pilot program was created to systematize critical care training within the context of an existing maternal-fetal medicine fellowship. Design: The program included a lecture series, a Web-based learning module, specific scenarios played out in a human simulator lab, and a clinical intensive care unit rotation. Fellows’ knowledge was assessed by pre- and posttest. Results: Objective knowledge was demonstrated to increase after 1 yr of training. Fellows’ impression of the curriculum was positive. Conclusion: More structured critical care medicine training is feasible within a maternal-fetal medicine fellowship. A multimodal curriculum to teach critical care within a maternal-fetal medicine fellowship appears promising and could be implemented elsewhere. Interest in this area should be cultivated.
Laundering in Cold Water: Detergent Considerations for Consumers

The effectiveness (ability to whiten) of six consumer laundry detergents, three powders and three liquids, was tested using a standard procedure. Assessment of each detergent’s ability to clean (ability to remove stain, thus whiten) a standard soiled cloth in six different cold water samples was evaluated. Two of the detergents, one powder and one liquid, are new laundry products designed to function in cold water. Results were based on a standardized procedure using launder-ometer treatment and reflectance colorimeter testing. Although no one detergent was very effective in whitening, the differences in the detergents were significant when compared to the original standard soiled cloth. In addition, when laundering this particular standard soiled cloth (carbon black/olive oil) in cold water, neither of the new cold water detergents were better at cleaning (whitening) the samples than the detergents without bleach or the bleach-containing detergents, and in fact, the powdered detergent with bleach performed the best in each of the tests in this study. The liquid detergent with bleach was best in comparison to other liquid detergents in only half of the tests performed.
Ca2+ influx drives agonist‐activated [Ca2+]i oscillations in an exocrine cell

In current models describing agonist-induced oscillations in [Ca 2+]i, Ca2+ entry is generally assumed to have a simple sustaining role, replenishing Ca2+ lost from the cell and recharging intracellular Ca2+ stores. In cells from the avian nasal gland, a model exocrine cell, we show that inhibition of Ca2+ entry by La3+, SK&F 96365, or by membrane depolarization, rapidly blocks [Ca2+]i oscillations but does so without detectible depletion of agonist-sensitive Ca2+ stores. As the rate of Mn2+ quenching during [Ca2+]i oscillations is constant, Ca2+ entry is not directly contributing to the [Ca2+]i changes and, instead, appears to be involved in inducing the repetitive release of Ca2+ from internal stores. Together, these data contradict current models in that (i) at the low agonist concentrations where [Ca2+]i oscillations are seen, generated levels of Ins(1,4,5)P3 are themselves inadequate to result in a regenerative [Ca2+]i signal, and (ii) Ca2+ entry is necessary to actually drive the intrinsic oscillatory mechanism.
Agonist versus antagonist action of ATP at the P2Y4 receptor is determined by the second extracellular loop.

UTP is a potent full agonist at both the human P2Y4 (hP2Y4) and rat P2Y4 (rP2Y4) receptor. In contrast, ATP is a potent full agonist at the rP2Y4 receptor but is a similarly potent competitive antagonist at the hP2Y4 receptor. To delineate the structural determinants of agonism versus antagonism in these species homologues, we expressed a series of human/rat P2Y4 receptor chimeras in 1321N1 human astrocytoma cells and assessed the capacity of ATP and UTP to mobilize intracellular Ca2+. Replacement of the NH2 terminus of the hP2Y4 receptor with the corresponding region of the rP2Y4 receptor resulted in a receptor that was activated weakly by ATP, whereas replacement of the second extracellular loop (EL2) of the hP2Y4 receptor with that of the rP2Y4 receptor yielded a chimeric receptor that was activated fully by UTP and near fully by ATP, albeit with lower potencies than those observed at the rP2Y4 receptor. These potencies were increased, and ATP was converted to a full agonist by replacing both the NH2 terminus and EL2 in the hP2Y4 receptor with the corresponding regions from the rP2Y4 receptor. Mutational analysis of the five divergent amino acids in EL2 between the two receptors revealed that three amino acids, Asn-177, Ile-183, and Leu-190, contribute to the capacity of EL2 to impart ATP agonism. Taken together, these results suggest that the second extracellular loop and the NH2 terminus form a functional motif that plays a key role in determining whether ATP functions as an agonist or antagonist at mammalian P2Y4 receptors.
Screening of the Coulomb gap

Data from resistivity measurements are presented which confirm a Coulomb gap in the density of states in two-dimensional variable-range hopping. For large hopping lengths the Coulomb interaction is screened by a metallic gate. A universal crossover to Mott hopping at low temperatures is observed. Internal consistency of the data and excellent agreement with theory are achieved with a single parameter fit.
Mass Spectrometry-Based Screening for Inhibitors of β-Amyloid Protein Aggregation

Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of the loss of cognitive function among the elderly, and the aggregation and deposition of misfolded β-amyloid protein (Aβ) contribute to this progressive central nervous system decline. Therefore, compounds that inhibit or even reverse Aβ aggregation might be useful for the treatment or prevention of Alzheimer's disease. To identify potential therapeutic agents for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, a mass spectrometry-based screening assay was developed to identify and rank order compounds that inhibit the aggregation of Aβ. To carry out this assay, Aβ was incubated with a test compound at 37 °C for 20 h followed by ultrafiltration to separate the monomeric Aβ from its aggregates. Aliquots of the ultrafiltrate were analyzed for monomeric Aβ using positive ion electrospray mass spectrometry based on the abundance the quadruply protonated molecule of Aβ at m/z 1083. The calibration curve for Aβ was linear with a correlation coefficient (r2) of >0.99 over the...
Sex-determined differential mortality of milkweed bugs, Oncopeltus fasciatus (hemiptera), to aflatoxins

Abstract Studies on the aflatoxins, toxic metabolites of Aspergillus flavus and A. parasiticus , have involved test systems ranging from cell cultures to laboratory animals. This work reports on the differential response by sex of Oncopeltus fasciatus to aflatoxin B 1 (AFB 1 ). Young adult milkweed bugs were chosen randomly from our stock colony and housed in glass culture jars. Triplicate sets of experimental animals were fed 5 μg/ml of AFB 1 in their liquid diet. The first death for the experimental females occurred at day 4, and at 10 days for the experimental males. A 50% lethality level for experimental females developed by day 8. Males subjected to the same concentration achieved a 50% lethality level at day 24. For the females the LD 50 occurred after consuming 0.49 μg/ml of AFB 1 . The results indicate that adult female milkweed bugs were hypersensitive to AFB 1 as compared to adult males. This organism is more sensitive than the American cockroach and less sensitive than the fruitfly, housefly, and honeybee to toxic aflatoxicosis. Even the female is not sufficiently sensitive to rate highly as a bioassay organism for AFB 1 . The extreme difference in mortality between the sexes is significant, unusual, and unexplained.
Static specification inference using predicate mining

The reliability and correctness of complex software systems can be significantly enhanced through well-defined specifications that dictate the use of various units of abstraction (e.g., modules, or procedures). Often times, however, specifications are either missing, imprecise, or simply too complex to encode within a signature, necessitating specification inference. The process of inferring specifications from complex software systems forms the focus of this paper. We describe a static inference mechanism for identifying the preconditions that must hold whenever a procedure is called. These preconditions may reflect both data flow properties (e.g., whenever p is called, variable x must be non-null) as well as control-flow properties (e.g., every call to p must bepreceded by a call to q). We derive these preconditions using a ninter-procedural path-sensitive dataflow analysis that gathers predicates at each program point. We apply mining techniques to these predicates to make specification inference robust to errors. This technique also allows us to derive higher-level specifications that abstract structural similarities among predicates (e.g., procedure p is called immediately after a conditional test that checks whether some variable v is non-null.) We describe an implementation of these techniques, and validate the effectiveness of the approach on a number of large open-source benchmarks. Experimental results confirm that our mining algorithms are efficient, and that the specifications derived are both precise and useful-the implementation discovers several critical, yet previously, undocumented preconditions for well-tested libraries.
Significance of the Relative Orientation of the Mean and Alternating Principal Stress Axes in Biaxial Fatigue

In certain biaxial fatigue problems, the stress components can be represented as a superposition of mean components, and proportionally applied alternating components. Such representation is the first step in applying some of the more popular methods for long-life fatigue analysis. It is commonly assumed, perhaps unwittingly, that the relative orientation of the mean and alternating principal stress axes does not influence fatigue behavior. It is explained how this assumption is inherent in several popular methods. It is pointed out that the validity of the assumption cannot be demonstrated by existing data.
Robust design using an efficient sampling technique

The concept of robust design involves identification of design settings that make the product performance less sensitive to the effects of seasonal and environmental variations. Batch processes are more flexible compared to continuous processes and are frequently used in these situations. Stochastic optimization methods provide a general approach to robust/parameter design as compared to conventional techniques. However, the computational burden of these approaches can be extreme and depends on the sample size used for characterizing the parametric variations and uncertainties. In this paper, we present a novel sampling technique. The example of robust batch distillation column design illustrates that the new sampling technique offers significant computational savings and better accuracy.
Area time trade-offs in micro-grain VLSI array architectures

We study the relative performance of three different massively parallel fine-grain, VLSI, control-flow architectures. The processor architectures being considered are: an associative memory architecture, a Mux-based SIMD architecture and a modification of the Mux-based architecture using RAMs making it suitable for systolic MIMD/MISD computation. All three architectures are organized as two-dimensional, near-neighbor mesh connected, array of processors. All three are very similar in their construction, and in their control and data-flow requirements. The custom hardware for all three architectures was built using the same technology. We compare and contrast the performance of these three VLSI architectures for a select set of applications. To evaluate the computational power of the three architectures we use the area time product, AT, as the metric. The three designs are known to perform well in their niche applications and we find that for non-niche applications all three designs are comparable in power to within a small constant factor. The performance of the Mux-based SIMD architecture is better in general than the other two in terms of speed though the associative architecture is found to out-perform the SIMD architecture for certain numeric applications like the FFT and matrix multiplication in the AT sense. >
The importance of sediment in the grazing ecology and size class interactions of an armored catfish, Ancistrus spinosus

Armored catfish, Ancistrus spinosus, graze substrates in a central Panamanian stream. They ingest both attached algae and sediment that settles onto substrates. During the dry season, this sediment is organic-rich (18–24% ash-free dry weight), and is derived from decomposing periphyton and vegetation from the surrounding, largely deciduous forest. This sediment, however, is not a food for Ancistrus, and in fact imposes energetic costs. These costs were estimated to be 15–22% of the daily energy budgets of 10 g individuals held under experimental conditions. In the stream, the presence of thick sediment on substrates increases the tendency for small Ancistrus to seek out larger individuals or areas cleared by them. Clearing of substrates by larger individuals may be particularly important to smaller Ancistrus during the dry season, when sediment-free substrate in stream pools is in short supply.
Vasopressin, immobilization, and the dexamethasone suppression test in rats

Abstract To investigate the role of the hormone vasopressin (VP) in mediating the response of the body to stress, corticosterone levels of VP-containing (LE) rats and VP-deficient (DI) rats were compared following administration of the dexamethasone suppression test (DST) under stressed and nonstressed conditions. The stressor utilized was immobilization, an acute physical stressor. Dexamethasone (DEX), a synthetic glucocorticoid, was injected subcutaneously at a dose of 0.025 mg/kg. This dose of DEX was found to significantly suppress plasma corticosterone in the nonstressed animals (both DI and LE) via feedback inhibition of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis. In the stressed situation, however, LE animals exhibited “escape” from DEX suppression, whereas DI animals did not. Escape indicates a resistance of the HPA axis to the suppressive action of DEX. Thus, in the absence of corticotropin-releasing factor, which is inhibited by DEX, VP alone appears to be sufficient to elicit significant corticosterone release. These results support the hypothesis that VP plays an important role in the regulation of glucocorticoid release in acute stress via the HPA axis.
Evaluation of neutron inelastic scattering for radioisotope production

Abstract A systematic study of the production of 117mSn, 119mSn and 195mPt in the hydraulic tube facility (HT) of the ORNL High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) has demonstrated that in all three cases the yields from neutron inelastic scattering ( A Z[n,n′] Am Z) were higher than yields obtained from neutron capture reactions ( ( A −1) Z[n,γ] Am Z) . The corresponding fission-averaged cross-sections were 222 ± 16, 168 ± 12 and 287 ± 20 mb, respectively. The relative gains in the specific activity were 1.4 for 195mPt, 3.3 for 117mSn and 4.4 for 119mSn. The larger gain from 119mSn could be attributed to the relatively lower excitation energy (89.5 keV) of this metastable nucleus. As a part of these studies, the thermal neutron capture cross-sections and resonance integrals for the above reactions and the cross-sections for the [n,2n] reactions leading to the above nuclides were also evaluated.
Multimillisecond timse delays with wrap-around surface-acoustic-wave delay lines

Time delays of up to 3 ms in passive systems, and up to 20 ms with the addition of loss compensation by means of internal surface-wave amplifiers, have been observed in wrap-around surface-wave delay lines constructed of Bi12GeO20 and operating in a recirculating mode at 52 MHz.