cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Spatial and temporal validation of the MODIS LAI and FPAR products across a boreal forest wildfire chronosequence

Abstract The leaf area index (LAI) and fraction of photosynthetically active radiation (FPAR) absorbed by the vegetation are key biophysical measures of canopy foliage area and light harvesting potential. Accurately quantifying these properties is important for characterizing the dynamics of mass and energy exchanges between vegetation and the atmosphere. The overall objective of this research was to validate the spatial and temporal performance of the MODIS LAI/FPAR products for a boreal forest landscape in northern Manitoba, Canada. We examined both the MODIS collection 4 (C4) and updated collection 5 (C5) versions over a multiyear period (2004 to 2006) and spatially across seven different-aged forests originating from wildfire and ranging in age from 1- to 154-years-old. We made optical measurements of LAI and FPAR, which were empirically scaled to high-resolution imagery (ASTER; 15–30 m pixel size) to derive detailed reference LAI and FPAR maps. These maps were then aggregated to MODIS resolution (i.e. 1 km) for comparison. We characterized the temporal accuracy of the MODIS products using repeat measurements of LAI and FPAR, and through comparisons with continuously operating measurements of canopy light interception. MODIS captured the general phenological trajectory of these aggrading forests, however the MODIS LAI and FPAR products overestimated and underestimated the LAI and FPAR for the youngest and oldest sites, respectively. In addition, MODIS displayed larger seasonal variation in LAI and FPAR compared to field measurements for the needle-leaf evergreen dominated sites. The peak growing season difference between MODIS and spatially aggregated ASTER reference values of LAI and FPAR decreased significantly by 69% and 55%, respectively, for the updated C5 versus the previous C4 LAI/FPAR products. The overall uncertainty (i.e. RMSE) in the MODIS LAI retrievals decreased from 1.6 (C4) to 0.63 m2 m− 2 (C5) and from 0.20 (C4) to 0.07 (C5) for FPAR. The incorporation of understory vegetation into the validation of the MODIS products yielded significantly higher agreement between observed and MODIS values, likely due to the relatively open canopy architecture and abundant understory found within boreal forests.
Role of dimethylarginine dimethylaminohydrolases in the regulation of endothelial nitric oxide production

Reduced NO is a hallmark of endothelial dysfunction, and among the mechanisms for impaired NO synthesis is the accumulation of the endogenous nitric-oxide synthase inhibitor asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA). Free ADMA is actively metabolized by the intracellular enzyme dimethylarginine dimethylaminohydrolase (DDAH), which catalyzes the conversion of ADMA to citrulline. Decreased DDAH expression/activity is evident in disease states associated with endothelial dysfunction and is believed to be the mechanism responsible for increased methylarginines and subsequent ADMA-mediated endothelial nitric-oxide synthase impairment. Two isoforms of DDAH have been identified; however, it is presently unclear which is responsible for endothelial ADMA metabolism and NO regulation. The current study investigated the effects of both DDAH-1 and DDAH-2 in the regulation of methylarginines and endothelial NO generation. Results demonstrated that overexpression of DDAH-1 and DDAH-2 increased endothelial NO by 24 and 18%, respectively. Moreover, small interfering RNA-mediated down-regulation of DDAH-1 and DDAH-2 reduced NO bioavailability by 27 and 57%, respectively. The reduction in NO production following DDAH-1 gene silencing was associated with a 48% reduction in l-Arg/ADMA and was partially restored with l-Arg supplementation. In contrast, l-Arg/ADMA was unchanged in the DDAH-2-silenced cells, and l-Arg supplementation had no effect on NO. These results clearly demonstrate that DDAH-1 and DDAH-2 manifest their effects through different mechanisms, the former of which is largely ADMA-dependent and the latter ADMA-independent. Overall, the present study demonstrates an important regulatory role for DDAH in the maintenance of endothelial function and identifies this pathway as a potential target for treating diseases associated with decreased NO bioavailability.
Practical considerations in calculations of the proton transfer in a model active site of papain

Practical aspects of the calculation of the proton transfer process in a model of the active site of the thiol protease papain are explored with basis sets of different sizes. Results from ab initio calculations with the STO-3G, 4-31G, 6-31G, 6-31G* basis set, and a 6-31G basis set augmented with polarization functions on the sulfur atom are compared for their performance in describing the proton transfer energy. The nature of the convergence of the calculated properties of the potential curve for proton transfer with the increase in basis set indicates the need for a split-valence basis set and for polarization functions on the sulfur in order to achieve an appropriate description of this system. Correlation corrections to the calculated energies are shown to contribute significantly to the characteristics of the proton transfer energy curve.
Excimer fluorescence as a molecular probe of polymer blend miscibility: 8. Polymeric and glassy solvent host matrices

Abstract The effects of solubility parameter differences between the guest polymer and the host matrix and of guest molecular weight on the thermodynamic miscibility and chain configuration of poly(2-vinylnaphthalene) (P2VN) dispersed in polymeric or glassy solvent hosts are investigated using excimer fluorescence. For P2VN blends with a series of poly(alkyl methacrylates) in which the difference in the guest and host solubility parameters is minimized, the small increase in the excimer to monomer fluorescence ratio, I D I M , with increasing P2VN molecular weight can be rationalized by a one-dimensional energy migration model proposed by Fitzgibbon and Frank. The results indicate the possibility of small-scale phase separation or local coil contraction for P2VN with molecular weight greater than 21 000. As the thermodynamic interaction between the guest and polymeric host is altered towards immiscibility, I D I M can be related to the extent of intermolecular aggregation in the blend. To study the efficiency of intramolecular energy migration independent of intermolecular association and free of casting solvent effects, we chose a host system consisting of a series of monomeric glassy solvents. The rate of energy transfer is investigated by transient fluorescence and treated by a one-dimensional model developed by Fredrickson and Frank. The results are in excellent agreement with independently measured photostationary-state fluorescence ratios.
Relative spectral absorption coefficients for the fundamental vibration-rotation bands of AlO☆

Abstract Relative spectral absorption coefficients have been calculated for the fundamental vibration-rotation bands of AlO between 2000 and 3500 K in the smeared-line approximation. A differential expression is given for the spectral absorption coefficient of individual vibration-bands, which is convenient for applications requiring integrations over finite wavenumber intervals.
Mesomorphic Substances Containing Some Group IV Elements

Abstract A unique series of organometallic substances has been prepared from 4′-methoxy-4-aminobiphenyl and para-substituted benzaldehydes. Among the substituents investigated are trimethylsilyl, trimethylgermyl, trimethyltin, trimethylsiloxy, and pentamethyldisiloxanyl. The compounds were examined for mesomorphic behavior, and the heats and entropies of the mesophase transitions were determined by differential scanning calorimetry. A majority of these compounds exhibit either a smectic or a nematic mesophase, although analogous organometallic anils derived from p-aminophenyl acetate or p-aminophenyl benzoate are non-mesomorphic. The results, taken together with data obtained from carbon-containing “isologs,” indicate that the bulkiness associated with the organometallic substituent does not preclude liquid crystal formation in long molecules, especially when the electronic properties of the end groups, such as high polarizability and mesomeric interactions, are beneficial.
The Criminalization of Domestic Violence: What Social Workers Need to Know

Domestic violence is a crosscutting issue that affects clients seeking social work services. The criminalization of domestic violence refers to efforts to address domestic violence through the passage and enforcement of criminal and civil laws. This article reviews the social science, legal, and criminal justice literature regarding interventions used to stop domestic violence. The theoretical foundations and effectiveness of police interventions, the use of protective orders, prosecution and victim advocacy, court responses, batterers' intervention as a condition of probation, and coordinated community responses to domestic violence are examined. Implications for social work practice are given, along with basic information for assisting clients who are victims of violence in their own homes.
Determination of extraction constant for polonium diethyldithiocarbamate by substoichiometric extraction

Abstract The extraction constant of polonium diethyldithiocarbamate, Po(DDTC) 4 , is shown to be 2.75 × 10 56 . The value of 1 2 log K po(DDTC) 4 (= 14.1) is slightly greater than 1 3 log K Bi(DDTC) 3 (= 13.8) and greater than 1 2 log K Pb(DDTC) 2 (= 9.49). Because of these differences, 210 Po and 210 Bi may be separated from 210 Pb in Ra-DEF by extraction with a metal—DDTC complex such as Cu(DDTC) 2 or Bi(DDTC) 3 .
Pharmacokinetics of continuous-infusion meropenem for the treatment of Serratia marcescens ventriculitis in a pediatric patient.

Neither guidelines nor best practices for the treatment of external ventricular drain (EVD) and ventriculoperitoneal shunt infections exist. An antimicrobial regimen with a broad spectrum of activity and adequate cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) penetration is vital in the management of both EVD and ventriculoperitoneal infections. In this case report, we describe the pharmacokinetics of continuous-infusion meropenem for a 2-year-old girl with Serratia marcescens ventriculitis. A right frontal EVD was placed for the management of a posterior fossa mass with hydrocephalus and intraventricular hemorrhage. On hospital day 6, CSF specimens were cultured, which identified a pan-sensitive Serratia marcescens with an initial cefotaxime minimum inhibitory concentration of 1 μg/ml or less. The patient was treated with cefotaxime monotherapy from hospital days 6 to 17, during which her CSF cultures and Gram's stain remained positive. On hospital day 26, Serratia marcescens was noted to be resistant to cefotaxime (minimum inhibitory concentration > 16 μg/ml), and the antimicrobial regimen was ultimately changed to meropenem and amikacin. Meropenem was dosed at 40 mg/kg/dose intravenously every 6 hours, infused over 30 minutes, during which, simultaneous serum and CSF meropenem levels were measured. Meropenem serum and CSF levels were measured at 2 and 4 hours from the end of the infusion with the intent to perform a pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic analysis. The resulting serum meropenem levels were 12 μg/ml at 2 hours and “undetectable” at 4 hours, with CSF levels of 1 and 0.5 μg/ml at 2 and 4 hours, respectively. On hospital day 27, the meropenem regimen was changed to a continuous infusion of 200 mg/kg/day, with repeat serum and CSF meropenem levels measured on hospital day 33. The serum and CSF levels were noted to be 13 and 0.5 μg/ml, respectively. The serum level of 13 μg/ml corresponds to an estimated meropenem clearance from the serum of 10.2 ml/kg/minute. Repeat meropenem levels from the serum and CSF on hospital day 37 were 15 and 0.5 μg/ml, respectively. After instituting the continuous-infusion meropenem regimen, only three positive CSF Gram's stains were noted, with the CSF cultures remaining negative. The continuous-infusion dosing regimen allowed for 100% probability of target attainment in the serum and CSF and a successful clinical outcome.
Students need not be pawns

Richard deCharms Graduate Institute of Education Washington University St. Louis, Missouri T he trend of the times seems to be a pendulum swing "back to basics," and away from the "open end of the spectrum" in classroom management and curriculum. My purpose is to suggest that pendulums swing in only one plane and the resulting analogy is oversimplified and hence misleading. The question is not whether students should be taught "basics" or should be allowed freedom to learn (or not learn) what they want. The question is how can student interest in learning be enhanced so that they will come to want to learn what they need to learn. This is a motivational problem. From the motivational point of view the paradox seems to be that the more the teacher pushes the more the student feels that she or he is a Pawn; the less the teacher pushes the more comfortable the student feels but the learning of basics seems to suffer. I shall propose that students who are trained to make responsible choices are not Pawns and yet readily take responsibility for their own learning of important academic skills. Further, I shall try to suggest concrete ways that teachers can develop responsibility in students. Let me start with an actual observation from an inner-city sixth grade classroom. On October 30, Ms. Edwards' class was having a science lesson. After reading a rather boring lesson on the oxygen/carbon dioxide breathing cycle, the children had formed a circle and Ms. Edwards was trying to elicit responses to questions indicating that they had understood what they had read. "Raise your hand if you think you know the answer," said Ms. Edwards after the first question had resulted in simultaneous yet animated responses from several students. The lively participation soon slowed to hesitant and not very satisfactory answers to specific questions. The teacher looked dissatisfied. "How could you demonstrate the importance of the oxygen cycle using what you have learned?" she asked. Troy raised his hand and said, "We could draw a picture." Tracey suggested writing an essay and Kimberley wanted to organize a group to act it out as in a TV talk show or news broad-
Middle Schools: A Review of Current Practices--How Evident Are They?.

What are the important characteristics of middle schools? This is the question the authors set out to answer in a study that led to their investigating just how extensively some 24 practices are implemented in middle schools. In addition, they discuss the issues that must be resolved in middle level education.
Membrane Resistance of Human Red Cells

A method has been devised to measure the specific membrane resistance of single human red cells. The cells were sucked into a 3 to 5 micron diameter pore in the end of a glass tube. By passing a small current through the cells, the total cell resistance was measured. The dimensions of the cell were measured optically and the specific membrane resistance was then calculated. Leakage of current between the cell and the walls of the pore was minimized by filling this region with isotonic sucrose. The measured specific membrane resistance values of four human red cells were 6.3, 6.32, 10.0, and 19.7 ohm-cm2.
Malignant Phyllodes Tumor of the Breast: A Case Study

Malignant phyllodes tumors of the breast are rare, fast-growing tumors that can be difficult to diagnose. A case study is featured about a young adult patient who lacked insurance and received a delayed diagnosis of malignant phyllodes tumor of the breast. This article includes pertinent clinical and age-specific considerations for comprehensive management.
THE ECONOMIC ORDERING QUANTITY PROBLEM AND WEALTH MAXIMIZATION

The typical financial management text states that management's objective should be to maximize owners’ wealth. The same texts then economic ordering quantity (EOQ) as a method for analyzing inventory problems without typing EOQ back to wealth maximization. This article shows algebraically that EOQ is not entirely consistent with the assumed objective. However, by simulation, EOQ is shown to yield answers that are sufficiently accurate for practical application.
Graceful degradation in real-time control applications using (m, k)-firm guarantee

Tasks in a real-time control application are usually periodic and they have deadline constraints by which each instance of a task is expected to complete its computation even in the adverse circumstances caused by component failures. Techniques to recover from processor failures often involve a reconfiguration in which all tasks are assigned to fault-free processors. This reconfiguration may result in processor overload where it is no longer possible to meet the deadlines of all tasks. In this paper, we discuss an overload management technique which discards selected task instances in such a way sheet the performance of the control loops in the system remain satisfactory even after a failure. The technique is based on the rationale that real-time control applications can tolerate occasional misses of the control law updates, especially if the control law is modified to account for these missed updates. The paper devises a scheduling policy which deterministic guarantees when and where the misses will occur and proposes a methodology for modifying the control law to minimize the deterioration in the control system behavior as a result of these missed control law updates.
ESR study of the diacetylene polymer 4BCMU

Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) measurements of the polydiacetylene 4BCMU in the solid-state indicate the presence of a thermally activated paramagnetic center with g ≈ 2.002 and first-derivative peak-to-peak linewidth of ≈ 17G. An abrupt and irreversible decrease in ESR signal intensity is observed at ca. 400 K, and appears to be associated with the solid-state planar-nonplanar conformational transformation manifested by an irreversible color change from metallic brown to red.
Advances in targeting the vacuolar proton-translocating ATPase (V-ATPase) for anti-fungal therapy.

Vacuolar proton-translocating ATPase (V-ATPase) is a membrane-bound, multi-subunit enzyme that uses the energy of ATP hydrolysis to pump protons across membranes. V-ATPase activity is critical for pH homeostasis and organelle acidification as well as for generation of the membrane potential that drives secondary transporters and cellular metabolism. V-ATPase is highly conserved across species and is best characterized in the model fungus Saccharomyces cerevisiae (S. cerevisiae). However, recent studies in mammals have identified significant alterations from fungi, particularly in the isoform composition of the 14 subunits and in the regulation of complex disassembly. These differences could be exploited for selectivity between fungi and humans and highlight the potential for V-ATPase as an anti-fungal drug target. Candida albicans (C. albicans) is a major human fungal pathogen and causes fatality in 35% of systemic infections, even with anti-fungal treatment. The pathogenicity of C. albicans correlates with environmental, vacuolar, and cytoplasmic pH regulation, and V-ATPase appears to play a fundamental role in each of these processes. Genetic loss of V-ATPase in pathogenic fungi leads to defective virulence, and a comprehensive picture of the mechanisms involved is emerging. Recent studies have explored the practical utility of V-ATPase as an anti-fungal drug target in C. albicans, including pharmacological inhibition, azole therapy, and targeting of downstream pathways. This overview will discuss these studies as well as hypothetical ways to target V-ATPase and novel high-throughput methods for use in future drug discovery screens.
Clinical Immunology and Traditional Herbal Medicines

The use of herbs to treat illness has its roots in an ancient holistic healing tradition that originated in Asia more than 3,000 years ago (10). Largely discounted by 19th and 20th century practitioners of Western medicine, healing practices incorporating herbal remedies, such as traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), Japanese Kampo, and Indian Ayurveda, are rapidly gaining acceptance in the West as we enter the 21st century. Herbal medicines are complex mixtures of minimally processed medicinal plants (e.g., plant parts that are boiled to make a tea). In conjunction with other components of traditional healing philosophies, such as acupuncture or massage, herbal medicines are used to treat a large range of symptoms and ailments, including liver disease, asthma, and other immune problems, menstrual problems, colds, headaches, and various cancers.
Interpreting the Civil Rights Movement: Place, Memory, and Conflict

Produced over the past decade, monuments and museums dedicated to the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s have desegregated America's memorial landscape. Tracing a broad arc across the US South, the material elements of this landscape — historic markers, monuments, parks, registered buildings, and museums — present a distinct challenge to representations of an elite, white American past. This challenge, however, is offered in a distinctly gendered manner, inasmuch as the role of women in organizing and leading the movement is obscured. Further, the historical narratives concretized at these sites are mediated by conventions associated with civil rights historiography and the tourism development industry. The result is a complex, sometimes ironic landscape. Via the narratives they embed and the crowds they attract, these landscapes are co-constitutive with contemporary politics of representing the past in the United States. This paper offers an overview of current memorial practices and representa...
Proving the uniform boundedness of some commonly used control schemes for robots

The uniform boundedness of the errors of some commonly used control schemes is considered analytically. Both fixed-point and trajectory control with proportional/derivative feedback are shown. The uniform boundedness of both the feedforward dynamic compensation method and the reduced feedforward compensation method are shown. A simple control scheme is given. An application to walking machines is presented. A technique of choosing Lyapunov functions is proposed to solve these problems. >
Pesticides and Health Effects: Karpati et al. Respond

In her letter, Ziem raises the issue of exacerbations of respiratory illness and other health effects of pesticide exposure that we did not measure in our study (Karpati et al. 2004). Our analysis was designed to evaluate only whether a population-level effect on emergency department visits, specifically on asthma and other respiratory illnesses, was evident following pyrethroid pesticide spraying. Similar study designs, despite their limitations, have proven to be sensitive methods of identifying population-level health impacts from exposure to criteria air pollutants from exposure to unusual events, such as smoke from forest fires. Moreover, our analysis did identify adverse population-level health effects of elevated ozone and particulates. As we noted in our discussion, the results of the analysis for pesticide exposure do not rule out the possibility that certain individuals might have been affected by exposure to the agent. Also, our focus was on emergency department visits, which generally signify more serious illness, although in urban neighborhoods even milder illnesses are often treated in such settings. However, if, in fact, certain individuals experienced asthma exacerbations following exposure, we believe our study demonstrates that their number was small enough that it did not result in a population-level increase in emergency department visits for asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. In our analysis we evaluated only respiratory complications of pesticide spraying to control West Nile virus, and we did not purport to measure possible neurotoxic or other nonrespiratory effects. Also, we did not evaluate the efficacy of pesticide spraying for mosquito control or its cost–benefit ratio with regard to pesticide-related health effects.
Challenging the Derived Transport-Demand Thesis: Geographical Issues in Freight Distribution:

One of the core concepts in transport and economic geography states that transportation is a derived demand, both for passengers and for freight transport alike. This assumption is reflected in the conventional literature which underlines that transport exists because it is the expression of a spatially differentiated function of supply and demand, and is thus considered to be ‘derived’ from other activities. However, recent developments in logistics and supply-chain management underline a paradigm shift in the consideration of freight transport as a derived demand. In many sectors of activity, the functions of production, consumption, and transportation have become embedded to the point that it is difficult to tell them apart. The author investigates the extent to which the concept of derived transport demand is being challenged by supply-chain management strategies. To overcome some of the inadequacies of the conventional perspective, it is suggested that several segments of freight-related activities s...
A generalized log law formulation for a wide range of boundary roughness typically encountered in natural streams

[1] Applying fluid mechanics principles to mobile bed conditions is simplified by demonstrating that fitting log profiles to streamwise velocity measurements using the plane of zero velocity is applicable to a larger range of roughness conditions than previously expected. Four sets of detailed velocity measurements obtained under the supervision of the authors were analyzed encompassing sediment-scale roughness elements, roughness caused by rigid vegetation, and large-scale roughness elements comprised of mobile bed forms. The analyses resulted in similar normalized zero-plane displacements for all roughness types considered. The zero-plane displacements, dh, normalized by roughness height, ks, were 0.20 and 0.26 for the sediment- and vegetation-scale experiments, respectively. The results for two experiments with bed form dominated roughness were 0.41 and 0.34. Estimates of dh/ks ranging from 0.2 to 0.4 are therefore recommended for a range of roughness types with the higher end of the range more appropriate for the larger, bed form-scale roughness elements, and the lower end for the sediment-scale roughness elements. In addition, it is demonstrated that the location of the plane of zero velocity is temporally constant even when the bed height is not. The findings can be applied to field velocity measurements under mobile bed conditions facilitating the calculation of turbulence parameters such as shear velocity by using point measurements and providing guidelines for the estimation of an appropriate value for zero-plane displacement.
Implications of spatially extensive historical data from surveys for restoring dry forests of Oregon's eastern Cascades

Dry western forests (e.g., ponderosa pine and mixed conifer) were thought to have been historically old and park-like, maintained by low-severity fires, and to have become denser and more prone to high-severity fire. In the Pacific Northwest, early aerial photos (primarily in Washington), showed that dry forests instead had variable-severity fires and forest structure, but more detail is needed. Here I used pre-1900 General Land Office Surveys, with new methods that allow accurate reconstruction of detailed forest structure, to test eight hypotheses about historical structure and fire across about 400,000 ha of dry forests in Oregon's eastern Cascades. The reconstructions show that only about 13.5% of these forests had low tree density. Forests instead were generally dense (mean = 249 trees/ha), but density varied by a factor of 2–4 across about 25,000-ha areas. Shade-tolerant firs historically were 17% of trees, dominated about 12% of forest area, and were common in forest understories. Understory trees and shrubs dominated on 83.5%, and were dense across 44.8% of forest area. Small trees (10–40 cm dbh) were >50% of trees across 72.3% of forest area. Low-severity fire dominated on only 23.5%, mixed-severity fire on 50.2%, and high-severity fire on 26.2% of forest area. Historical fire included modest-rotation (29–78 years) low-severity and long-rotation (435 years) high-severity fire. Given historical variability in fire and forest structure, an ecological approach to restoration would restore fuels and manage for variable-severity fires, rather than reduce fuels to lower fire risk. Modest reduction in white fir/grand fir and an increase in large snags, down wood, and large trees would enhance recovery from past extensive logging and increase resiliency to future global change. These forests can be maintained by wildland fire use, coupled, near infrastructure, with prescribed fires that mimic historical low-severity fires.
Enhancing intelligent transportation systems to improve and support homeland security

The surface transportation system plays a crucial role in responding to natural disasters and other catastrophic incidents. We propose new techniques to enhance ITS (intelligent transportation systems) to improve and support homeland security. In particular, we propose two evacuation algorithms, all-links and fastest-links, and perform simulation studies to compare their performances. These algorithms are part of a smart traffic evacuation management system (STEMS) being developed to provide rapid and efficient response to human-caused threats and disasters, by creating dynamic evacuation plans based on incident location and scope.
Photochemistry on TiO2: Mechanisms behind the surface chemistry

Abstract Photochemistry from TiO 2 surfaces is described for two cases: The UV-induced photodesorption of O 2 from TiO 2 (1 1 0) – 1 × 1; and the hydrophilic effect caused by UV irradiation on TiO 2 . In both cases fundamental information about how these processes occur has been found. In the case of the O 2 photodesorption kinetics, it has been found that the rate of the process is proportional to the square root of the UV flux, showing that second-order electron–hole pair recombination is dominant in governing the photodesorption rate. In addition these measurements provide an estimate of the concentration of hole traps in the TiO 2 crystal. In other measurements of the UV-induced hydrophilicity, starting with the atomically-clean TiO 2 surface, it has been shown that the effect occurs suddenly at a critical point during irradiation as a result of photooxidation of a monolayer of hydrocarbon ( n -hexane) at equilibrium with ppm concentration of n -hexane in O 2 at 1 atmosphere pressure.
Plasmodium malariae: Parasite and Disease

A review of the life history of Plasmodium malariae, the quartan malaria parasite of humans, is presented. Much of the information is based on data obtained from induced infections in humans who were given malaria therapy for the treatment of neurosyphilis between 1940 and 1963. Prepatent periods (i.e., the time until the first day of parasite detection) fever episodes, and maximum parasitemias as a result of infection with P. malariae were obtained and are presented. Experimental and known vectors of the parasite are also discussed. Splenectomized chimpanzees and New World monkeys are readily infected and serve as sources of parasites and antigens for diagnostic and molecular studies. South American monkeys are naturally infected with a parasite known as Plasmodium brasilianum. This parasite appears to be P. malariae that has adapted from humans to grow in monkeys, probably within the last 500 years. Infection with P. malariae is associated with the production of immune complexes in the kidneys and the associated nephrotic syndrome. The essential lesions are a thickening of the glomerular basement membrane and endocapillary cell proliferation. Studies of monkeys infected with P. malariae indicate the same pathology as that demonstrated in humans.
Doppler velocimetry in pregnant patients with sickle cell anemia

Women with sickle cell anemia have an increased risk of bearing low-birth-weight (LBW) progeny. To establish prognostic indicators of neonatal outcome, 15 women with sickle cell anemia were followed through their pregnancies with the use of umbilical and uterine Doppler flow velocimetry. The systolic/diastolic ratios obtained were correlated with neonatal birth weight, gestational age, and birth weight percentile. Pregravid hemoglobin levels, reticulocyte counts, dense cell numbers, percentage hemoglobin F, and indirect bilirubin and lactate dehydrogenase levels were also determined, and statistical analysis was performed to assess whether any of these parameters would be useful in conjunction with velocimetry. We report here that, in sickle cell anemia, prenatal umbilical and uterine Doppler velocimetry ratios correlate inversely and significantly with neonatal birth weight (P < 0.005 and P < 0.002, respectively). In addition, prenatal maternal HbF levels also correlate significantly with Doppler velocimetry readings, an independent indicator of LBW progeny. Neither pregravid hemoglobin levels nor dense cell concentration correlates with Doppler umbilical and uterine flow velocimetry ratios determined during pregnancy. Pregravid high levels of HbF and velocimetry readings may serve to delineate a subset of sickle cell patients who may have different requirements for prenatal care. The possible mechanism for the detrimental effects of increased levels of fetal hemoglobin has not been clearly established, but it may involve increased propensity for vasoocclusion due to the unique rheology of the human placenta. © 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Self-defensive subjectivity The diagnosis of a social pathology

In his book Das Recht der Freiheit (2011), Axel Honneth develops a theory of social justice that incorporates negative, reflexive and social forms of freedom as well as the institutional conditions necessary for their reproduction. This account enables the identification of social pathologies or systemic normative deficits that frustrate individual efforts to relate their actions reflexively to a normative order and inhibits their ability to recognize the freedom of others as a condition of their own. In this article I utilize Honneth’s theory in the diagnosis of a contemporary social pathology, which impedes social recognition and thereby contributes to social injustice. I argue that this particular social pathology – associated with the Second Amendment right to bear arms – has given rise to a pernicious form of subjectivity, which I call self-defensive. I conclude with some remarks concerning what this application reveals about the strengths and weaknesses of Honneth’s account.
Talking to Strangers: Anxieties of Citizenship since Brown v. Board of Education.

Talking to Strangers: Anxieties of Citizenship since Brown v. Board of Education. By Danielle S. Allen. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004. 254p. $25.00 cloth.It may seem odd, given its title, but this is a book about friendship. The central problem of American democracy, according to Danielle Allen, is a lack of trust among citizens. For democracy to be stable, its citizens must feel confident that the obligations and opportunities of society are shared equitably. Yet majority rule is a breeding ground for distrust, particularly in a polity marked by race. Without trust, there is nothing to bind the minority and the majority together. The task of this book is to find ways for citizens to trust one another in these unsettled times. Doing so, Allen argues, requires developing habits of political friendship. The challenge of democratic politics, ironically, is to turn strangers into friends.
PARTIAL IDENTIFICATION OF DARK 14CO2 FIXATION PRODUCTS IN LEAVES OF CATTLEYA (ORCHIDACEAE)

SUMMARY Following exposure of Cattleya leaves to '^COj in the dark, labelled malate, citrate and an unidentified compound were detected by thin layer chromatography. This is interpreted to suggest the existence in Cattleya leaves of a dark COj fixation pathway which may be similar to that found in other plants which can fix large amounts of carbon in the dark.
A computational framework for network modeling of fibrous biological tissue deformation and rupture

The tremendous increase in accessible, powerful, desktop computers has raised the possibility of rapid high speed simulation of the response of fibrous biological tissue using networks of fibers to represent the load bearing component of such materials. The purpose of this paper is to present a relatively simple, robust, modeling and computational framework, based on fiber networks, which can be implemented with minimal effort by researchers in the biomechanics community, and which is relatively easy to tailor to specific applications. The advantages of such a fiber network approach are (1) the simplicity of the constitutive laws at the fiber level, for example relaxed one-dimensional Fung material laws, (2) the ability to easily incorporate effects such as fiber damage and rupture and (3) the amenability of the model to extremely rapid numerical simulation.
Toll-Like Receptor 4–Dependent and –Independent Cytokine Secretion Induced by Minimally Oxidized Low-Density Lipoprotein in Macrophages

Objective— Innate immune responses to oxidized low-density lipoprotein LDL (LDL) regulate the development of atherosclerosis. We demonstrated previously that an early form of oxidized LDL, minimally modified LDL (mmLDL), triggers cytoskeletal rearrangements in macrophages via CD14 and Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)/MD-2. Because lipopolysaccharide (LPS) activation of TLR4 leads to proinflammatory gene expression, in this study, we asked whether mmLDL also induced proinflammatory signaling. Methods and Results— We studied cytokine secretion and signaling in J774 and primary peritoneal macrophages stimulated with mmLDL, which was prepared by incubating LDL with cells expressing human 15-lipoxygenase. MmLDL stimulated robust phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) activation, and Akt and extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2) phosphorylation, which exceeded that induced by LPS. On the other hand, although mmLDL induced nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) p65 translocation to the nucleus, there was no detectable NF-κB activation. However, mmLDL induced early mRNA and protein expression of the cytokines MIP-2, MCP-1, tumor necrosis factor-α, and interleukin-6. Chemokine MIP-2 but not MCP-1 secretion depended on TLR4/MyD88, ERK1/2, and PI3K signaling. In turn, TLR4 regulated phosphorylation of ERK1/2 but not of Akt, suggesting that mmLDL-induced PI3K activation is TLR4 independent. Conclusions— In macrophages, mmLDL activates TLR4-dependent and -independent signaling pathways, resulting in secretion of proinflammatory cytokines. These results provide new insights into the inflammatory origins of atherosclerosis.
A Dynamic Graph Model for Analyzing Streaming News Documents

In this paper we consider the problem of analyzing streaming documents, in particular streaming news stories. The system is designed to extract statistics from the document, incorporate these into a graph-based model, and discard the document to reduce storage requirements. The model is defined in terms of a changing lexicon and sub-lexicons at each node in the graph, with the nodes of the graph representing topics. An approximation to the TFIDF term weighting is introduced. We illustrate the methodology on a dataset of news articles, and discuss the dynamic nature of the model
Influence of processing on the microstructure and mechanical properties of 14YWT

Abstract The investigation of the mechanical alloying (MA) conditions for producing the advanced oxide dispersion strengthened (ODS) 14YWT ferritic alloy led to significant improvements in balancing the strength, ductility and fracture toughness properties while still maintaining the salient microstructural features consisting of ultra-fine grains and high concentration of Y-, Ti- and O-enriched nanoclusters. The implemented changes to the processing conditions included reducing the contamination of the powder during ball milling, applying a pre-extrusion annealing treatment on the ball milled powder and exploring different extrusion temperatures at 850 °C (SM170 heat), 1000 °C (SM185) and 1150 °C (SM200). The microstructural studies of the three 14YWT heats showed similarities in the dispersion of nanoclusters and sub-micron size grains, indicating the microstructure was insensitive to the different extrusion conditions. Compared to past 14YWT heats, the three new heats showed lower strength, but higher ductility levels between 25 and 800 °C and significantly higher fracture toughness values between 25 °C and 700 °C. The lower contamination levels of O, C and N achieved with improved ball milling conditions plus the slightly larger grain size were identified as important factors for improving the balance in mechanical properties of the three heats of 14YWT.
Concentric-Sphere Design for Spacing of Tag-Gas Isotopic Ratios

An analytical tag-design scheme is presented that can be used to compute the isotopic compositions for a system of tag nodes, used to identify failed fuel assemblies in reactors with gas-bonded nuclear fuels. The tag nodes are located uniformly across the surfaces of two concentric spheres. This design minimizes the possibility of ambiguous leaker identification in the event of double-assembly failures, while reducing the enrichment requirements for the noble gases used to create the tags. Reducing the enrichment requirements lowers the overall tag costs and makes the design particularly well suited for reactors requiring large numbers of distinct tags.
Nitrodibenzofuran: A One- and Two-Photon Sensitive Protecting Group That Is Superior to Brominated Hydroxycoumarin for Thiol Caging in Peptides

Photoremovable protecting groups are important for a wide range of applications in peptide chemistry. Using Fmoc-Cys(Bhc-MOM)-OH, peptides containing a Bhc-protected cysteine residue can be easily prepared. However, such protected thiols can undergo isomerization to a dead-end product (a 4-methylcoumarin-3-yl thioether) upon photolysis. To circumvent that photoisomerization problem, we explored the use of nitrodibenzofuran (NDBF) for thiol protection by preparing cysteine-containing peptides where the thiol is masked with an NDBF group. This was accomplished by synthesizing Fmoc-Cys(NDBF)-OH and incorporating that residue into peptides by standard solid-phase peptide synthesis procedures. Irradiation with 365 nm light or two-photon excitation with 800 nm light resulted in efficient deprotection. To probe biological utility, thiol group uncaging was carried out using a peptide derived from the protein K-Ras4B to yield a sequence that is a known substrate for protein farnesyltransferase; irradiation of the ...
Synergistic Assembly of Heavy Metal Clusters and Luminescent Organic Bridging Ligands in Metal–Organic Frameworks for Highly Efficient X-ray Scintillation

We have designed two metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) to efficiently convert X-ray to visible-light luminescence. The MOFs are constructed from M6(μ3-O)4(μ3-OH)4(carboxylate)12 (M = Hf or Zr) secondary building units (SBUs) and anthracene-based dicarboxylate bridging ligands. The high atomic number of Zr and Hf in the SBUs serves as effective X-ray antenna by absorbing X-ray photons and converting them to fast electrons through the photoelectric effect. The generated electrons then excite multiple anthracene-based emitters in the MOF through inelastic scattering, leading to efficient generation of detectable photons in the visible spectrum. The MOF materials thus serve as efficient X-ray scintillators via synergistic X-ray absorption by the metal-cluster SBUs and optical emission by the bridging ligands.
Condom Use and Its Impact Factors in Female Sex Workers

OBJECTIVE To understand the condom use and its impact factors of female sex workers in Zhabei District,Shanghai,providing scientific basis for the relevant departments to carry out intervention studies.METHODS Invsetigating the use of condoms of 167 female sex workers in some entertainment in Zhabei District,using purposive sampling method.RESULTS In the 167 survey,the average age of providing commercial services is(24.77±5.34).There are a significant difference(χ2=62.161,P=0.000)of the ratio of condom using in every time of commercial services between the last month(68.9%),the last week(75.6%)and the last time(92.7%).There are a significant difference(χ2=53.513,P=0.000)of the ratio of condom using in every time between the customers and the regular sexual partners(mainly their boyfriends or husbands).Monthly income level,whether there are other non-customers male partners is the impact of factors of the condoms using.CONCLUSION The ratio of condom using of female sex workers extends a downward trend cycle,and there are a significant difference between different sexual partners,suggesting that further effective interventions should be taken to increase condom usage persist.
Comorbid trajectories of substance use as predictors of Antisocial Personality Disorder, Major Depressive Episode, and Generalized Anxiety Disorder.

Objective To determine longitudinal associations between patterns of comorbid cigarette, alcohol, and marijuana use and Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD), Major Depressive Episode (MDE), and Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) in adulthood.
Orosensory contributions to dysphagia: a link between perception of sweet and sour taste and pharyngeal delay time

Pharyngeal delay is a significant swallowing disorder often resulting in aspiration. It is suspected that pharyngeal delay originates from sensory impairment, but a direct demonstration of a link between oral sensation and pharyngeal delay is lacking. In this study involving six patients with complaints of dysphagia, taste sensation of the oral tongue was measured and subsequently related to swallowing kinematics. It was found that a response bias for sour taste was significantly correlated with pharyngeal delay time on paste, highlighting oral sensory contributions to swallow motor dysfunctions. Investigating the precise nature of such a link between oral sensation and dysphagia would constitute a basis for understanding the disorder. The results of this study highlight oral sensory contributions to pharyngeal swallow events and provide impetus to examine this link in larger samples of dysphagic patients.
Obesity and robotic surgery: Associated ventilator indices and perioperative pulmonary complications.

5596 Background: Robotic surgery has been shown to be feasible in obese patients. However, there remains concern about the safety of robotic surgery in obese women who need gynecologic surgery, as ...
Coupled Resonator Filters

Radiofrequency transmission circuits are going towards integration of all functions including filters. In this domain, acoustic filters using Surface Acoustic Waves (SAW) or Bulk Acoustic Waves (BAW) are being studied increasingly and in particular advanced structures such as Coupled Resonator Filter (CRF). A wide band modeling of the complete CRF filter is proposed. This model is compared to simulation and the limitation of RF pads necessary for characterization is highlighted. Adding to the simulation the measurement of single RF pads validates this assumption. Another problem is the industrial test of all filters after fabrication. Usually, frequency domain characterizations are performed. Nevertheless, this method is time consuming, needs expensive equipment and is not suitable for industrial testing. A new method of filter characterization is proposed using a digitally modulated signal where the carrier frequency is chosen close to the central frequency of the filter. Then, at the filter output, Error Vector Magnitude (EVM) is analyzed. This EVM gives us information on the filter behavior and presents good agreements with simulations. In fine, these results are compared to S-parameters to validate the new proposed method.