cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Na-K-Cl cotransport in normal and glaucomatous human trabecular meshwork cells

PURPOSE. Previous results from this laboratory showed that intracellular volume of trabecular meshwork (TM) cells is regulated by the Na-K-Cl cotransport system. Other studies suggest that TM cell volume, in turn, is a determinant of permeability across the TM. Given that a decrease in outflow facility across the TM is thought to be the primary cause of elevated intraocular pressure in primary open-angle glaucoma, the present study was conducted to investigate the possibility that Na-K-Cl cotransport function may be altered in glaucomatous TM cells compared with normal TM cells. METHODS. Normal and glaucomatous human TM cells were cultured from donor eyes and trabeculectomy specimens, respectively. Trabecular meshwork cell monolayers were evaluated for Na-K-Cl cotransport activity, assessed as ouabain-insensitive, bumetanide-sensitive K influx using 86 Rb as a tracer for K. Cotransporter protein expression was determined by western blot analysis, and intracellular volume was determined radioisotopically using [ l4 C]urea and [ |4 C] sucrose as markers of total and extracellular water space, respectively. RESULTS. Na-K-Cl cotransport activity of glaucomatous TM cells was found to be reduced by 32% ± 2% compared with that of normal TM cells, whereas western blot analyses showed that cotransporter protein expression in glaucomatous TM cells was reduced by 64% ± 14% compared with expression in normal TM cells. Also, exposure of normal TM cells to 10 /LLM norepinephrine or 50 JU-M 8-bromo-3',5'-cyclic adenosine monophosphate was found to diminish Na-K-Cl cotransport activity, whereas these agents were without effect on glaucomatous TM cell cotransport. Finally, resting cell volume of glaucomatous TM cells was found to be increased compared with that of normal TM cells, whereas intracellular volume of both cell types was reduced after exposure to 10 )LtM benzmetanide or 10 /xM bumetanide. CONCLUSIONS. These findings indicate that Na-K-Cl cotransport function and regulation are altered in glaucomatous TM cells compared with that of normal TM cells. However, the observation that cell volume of glaucomatous TM cells is greater than that of normal TM cells, despite reduced Na-K-Cl cotransport activity, suggests that other volume-regulatory ion flux pathways may be involved in the reduced outflow of glaucoma. (Invest Ophthalmol Vis Set. 1999;40:425-434)
Imprecise causality in mined rules

Causality occupies a central position in human reasoning. It plays an essential role in commonsense decision-making. Data mining hopes to extract unsuspected information from very large databases. The results are inherently soft or fuzzy as the data is generally both incomplete and inexact. The best known data mining methods build rules. Association rules indicate the associative strength of data attributes. In many ways, the interest in association rules is that they seem to suggest causal, or at least, predictive relationships. Whether it can be said that any association rules express a causal relationship needs to be examined. In part, the utility of mined association rules depends on whether the rule is causal or coincidental. This paper explores some of the factors that impact causality in mined rules.
Globalizing Resistance: The Battle of Seattle and the Future of Social Movements

The massive protests at the Third Ministerial Meeting of the World Trade Organization in November 1999 resulted from broad and accelerating changes in global social and political relations. Many protesting groups had been involved in previous struggles for global economic justice that shaped their identities and strategies in Seattle. This study examines the participants, activities, and political context of the "Battle of Seattle." It explores the transnational activist linkages and suggests that a division of labor was present whereby groups with local and national ties took on mobilization roles while groups with routinized transnational ties provided information and frames for the struggle. An examination of the tactics used in Seattle suggests that national protest "repertoires" have been adapted for use in global political arenas. There is also some evidence of protest innovation in response to global political integration and technology. While this study encompasses only a single protest episode, i...
Stability Analysis for Learning Systems

The error between the desired and actual output of a single input, multiple output plant is used by a learning law to modify the input in order to reduce the output error. Lyapunov stability analysis is used to determine criteria for the learning law coefficients. The plant is assumed to be stable, linear and time invariant. Formulations include restrictions on the desired trajectory and Lyapunov candidate derived from the plant model. Sufficient conditions for stability are found and conjectured to also be necessary.
Population Aging, Political Parties, and the Politics of Labor in Germany

This study presents a detailed discussion of the generational politics surrounding one of Germany’s most radical labor reforms - the Hartz reforms. How could it be that at the same time as their numbers were bigger than ever before, the old became political losers of one of the most far-reaching social reforms in recent German history? Their political loss was driven by two factors. The first is that age-based identity is weak in Germany. While the multiparty system encourages parties to appeal to citizens along generational lines, Germany’s federal organization crystallizes and formalizes regional identities, giving them prominence in policymaking. The second reason was that the changing age structure across Europe, and increasing integration, means that EU member states are being strongly encouraged to institute strict reforms that will bring underutilized segments into the labor market at the same time that they scale back on generous benefits.
Effective data collection modalities utilized in monitoring the good behavior game

The Good Behavior Game (GBG) has been identified as an effective evidence-based class-wide management intervention to decrease maladaptive classroom behaviors. This study was a systematic replication and extension of previous research on GBG. This study looks at the continued effectiveness of the GBG on increasing appropriate student classroom behaviors and on increasing teacher behaviors specific praise statements to students. This research is also attempting to investigate teacher perception of the use of evidence-based interventions and data collection in the classroom, and the differences in accuracy in data collection and the GBG intervention while monitoring teacher's usage of both hand calculated and computer-based data collection modalities. Comparison of teachers hand collected data with computer-based data collection.Computer-based data collection systems increase teachers accuracy.The Good Behavior Game is enhanced with the use of computer-based data collection.
The Coming of the Adult Physical Education Curriculum.

(1979). The Coming of the Adult Physical Education Curriculum. Journal of Physical Education and Recreation: Vol. 50, No. 2, pp. 55-56.
Oxygen isotope geochemistry of the second HSDP core

Oxygen isotope ratios were measured in olivine phenocrysts (~1 mm diameter), olivine microphenocrysts (generally ~100–200 µm diameter), glass, and/or matrix from 89 samples collected from depths down to 3079.7 m in the second, and main, HSDP core (HSDP-2). Olivine phenocrysts from 11 samples from Mauna Loa and 34 samples from the submarine section of Mauna Kea volcano have delta18O values that are similar to one another (5.11 ± 0.10‰, 1sigma, for Mauna Loa; 5.01 ± 0.07‰, for submarine Mauna Kea) and within the range of values typical of olivines from oceanic basalts (delta18O of ~5.0 to 5.2‰). In contrast, delta18O values of olivine phenocrysts from 20 samples taken from the subaerial section of Mauna Kea volcano (278 to 1037 mbsl) average 4.79 ± 0.13‰. Microphenocrysts in both the subaerial (n = 2) and submarine (n = 24) sections of Mauna Kea are on average ~0.2‰ lower in delta18O than phenocrysts within the same stratigraphic interval; those in submarine Mauna Kea lavas have an average delta18O of 4.83 ± 0.11‰. Microphenocrysts in submarine Mauna Kea lavas and phencrysts in Mauna Loa lavas are the only population of olivines considered in this study that are typically in oxygen isotope exchange equilibrium with coexisting glass or groundmass. These data confirm the previous observation that the stratigraphic boundary between Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea lavas defines a shift from “normal” to unusually low delta18O values. Significantly, they also document that the distinctive 18O-depleted character of subaerial Mauna Kea lavas is absent in phenocrysts of submarine Mauna Kea lavas. Several lines of evidence suggest that little if any of the observed variations in delta18O can be attributed to subsolidus alteration or equilibrium fractionations accompanying partial melting or crystallization. Instead, they reflect variable proportions of an 18O-depleted source component or contaminant from the lithosphere and/or volcanic edifice that is absent in or only a trace constituent of subaerial Mauna Loa lavas, a minor component of submarine Mauna Kea lavas, and a major component of subaerial Mauna Kea lavas. Relationships between the delta18O of phenocrysts, microphenocrysts, and glass or groundmass indicate that this component (when present) was added over the course of crystallization-differentiation. This process must have taken place in the lithosphere and most likely at depths of between ~5 and 15 km. We conclude that the low-delta18O component is either a contaminant from the volcanic edifice that was sampled in increasingly greater proportions as the volcano drifted off the center of the Hawaiian plume or a partial melt of low-delta18O, hydrothermally altered perdotites in the shallow Pacific lithosphere that increasingly contributed to Mauna Kea lavas near end of the volcano's shield building stage. The first of these alternatives is favored by the difference in delta18O between subaerial and submarine Mauna Kea lavas, whereas the second is favored by systematic differences in radiogenic and trace element composition between higher and lower delta18O lavas.
The contribution of cytochrome P450-dependent arachidonate metabolites to integrated renal function.

Abstract Arachidonic acid can be metabolized to diverse products which differ widely in their biological activities. These metabolites affect basic biological mechanisms such as vascular reactivity and transport function in critical nephron segments. Metabolism of arachidonic acid is discretely localized to specific cells and differs within segments of the nephron; for example, cells of the medullary ascending limb of Henle's loop have a considerable capacity to generate cytochrome P450-dependent arachidonate metabolites but have neglible cyclooxygenase activity. Arachidonic acid metabolites participate in fluid and electrolyte homeostasis, and in the regulation of tissue blood flow, and act as modulators of vasoactive hormones, and, thereby, make important contributions to integrated renal function.
Ecogeographic size variation in small-bodied subfossil primates from Ankilitelo, southwestern Madagascar.

Variation in body size is well documented for both extant and extinct Malagasy primates, and appears to be correlated with geographic patterns of resource seasonality. Less attention has been paid to extant lemurs in subfossil collections, although it has been suggested that subfossil forms of extant species are characterized by greater size than their modern counterpart. This trend of phyletic size change has been related to climate change, habitat fragmentation, or human hunting. However, space- and time-averaging in the subfossil samples of previous studies may have obscured more general ecogeographic patterns underlying these size differences. Our objective is to examine size variation in subfossil still-extant primates within a regional comparative context to determine if subfossil and living forms conform to similar ecogeographic patterns. We report on the subfossil still-extant primate assemblage from Ankilitelo, southwestern Madagascar (∼500 yr BP) to test this hypothesis. The Ankilitelo primates were compared with museum specimens of known locality. Extant taxa were assigned to one of five distinct ecogeographic regions, including spiny thicket, dry deciduous forest, succulent woodland, lowland and subhumid rainforest. Comparisons of tooth size in extant lemurs reveal significant geographical patterns of variation within genera. In general, the primates from Ankilitelo are indeed larger than their modern counterpart. However, these differences fit an ecoregional model of size variation, whereby Ankilitelo species are comparable in size to living forms inhabiting ecoregions present near the cave today. This suggests that Malagasy primates have been subjected to similar patterns of resource seasonality for at least 500 years. Am J Phys Anthropol, 2007. © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
A Behavioral Index of Imagery Ability in Social Anxiety

Individuals with social anxiety often report recurrent, distorted, negative images of themselves. However, previous research has relied exclusively on self-report methods that assess the content of these images rather than the underlying processes involved in image generation. Therefore, we used a validated behavioral measure to examine image generation ability in individuals with social anxiety and non-anxious controls (NACs). Participants first studied and became familiar with a set of uppercase block letters set in grids. Then participants saw a lowercase letter followed by an empty grid with a single X mark in one of the cells. Participants visualized the corresponding block letter in the grid and decided whether it would have covered the X if it were physically present. Image generation is revealed by longer response latencies for probes located on “late” relative to “early” segments of the letters. Socially anxious individuals showed slower responding to late versus early probe locations compared to the NACs, suggesting that individuals with social anxiety experience a disadvantage in generating images of neutral stimuli.
A 2-OPT procedure to reduce total inspection time in a serial inspection process

In this paper, a 2-OPT based procedure is proposed to solve the test-sequencing problem in a serial inspection process. Applications of these methods are also extended to quiz problems with precedence constraints. Test problems are run on both the heuristic and the branch and bound methods and the results are reported. An optimal test sequence is found for a real world application, a radio inspection process, using data obtained from a high volume electronics manufacturer.
Atomistic origin of rapid crystallization of Ag-doped Ge–Sb–Te alloys: A joint experimental and theoretical study

We have applied extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) analyses and ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) simulations to study the structure of Ag-doped (up to 42%) Ge1Sb2Te4 alloys. The computer models are consistent with EXAFS experiments, and reveal that the Ge environment is significantly modified by Ag doping, whereas those of Sb and Te are barely affected (except for high Ag concentrations), and suggest that Ag prefers bonding with Te. Doping with Ag promotes the conversion of Ge from tetrahedral to octahedral, and enhances the speed of crystallization of Ge–Sb–Te (GST) alloys as predicted by MD simulation. Our study sheds light on the atomistic mechanism of rapid crystallization of GST alloys, and enhancement by Ag doping. Mean-square displacements (MSDs), depicting the hopping of individual silver atoms in the silver-doped GeSbTe phase-change memory material (PCMM).
Tobacco use: baseline results from pathways to health, a school-based project for southwestern American Indian youth.

Abstract Background. This paper describes a school-based cancer prevention project for fifth- and seventh-grade Navajo and Pueblo Indian children living in the South-west. Baseline data are presented from 714 students who completed questionnaires on smoking and smokeless tobacco. Methods. Questionnaires were administered in the fifth- and seventh-grade classrooms prior to students receiving the Pathways to Health cancer prevention curriculum. Results. In our sample there were increases from fifth to seventh grade in self-reported current cigarette use and intention to use. Also, boys were more likely to use and intend to use cigarettes than girls. The use of smokeless tobacco also increased with increasing grade level, though this trend was less pronounced for girls. A significant gender difference was found in the use of smokeless tobacco with boys reporting higher use. However, reported use by girls was higher than is typically noted for non-Hispanic white girls. Conclusions. There is evidence of experimentation and regular use of tobacco products by both Navajo and Pueblo boys and girls. Even more students indicate intention to use tobacco products in the future. These data confirm the need for primary prevention programs designed for this population of American Indians.
Identifying Marine Phytoplankton

Until recently, anyone who needed to accurately identify marine phytoplankton had one of four choices: use the outdated Englishlanguage volumes by E. E. Cupp and N. I. Hendey plus the more recent book by J. Dodge, acquire a working knowledge of German and use the old volumes by Schiller and Hustedt, spend huge amounts of time in an exceedingly well-equipped marine science library trying in vain to keep up with the rapidly evolving field of phytoplankton systematics and taxonomy, or track down one of the rarest of endangered species—a phytoplankton taxonomist—and beg for help. To these unfortunate choices is added one considerably more hopeful: Identifying Marine Phytoplankton. This volume, which has seven contributing authors, contains most of the taxonomic groups that make up the planktonic autotrophs and some heterotrophs of the seas, coasts, and estuaries of the world (missing are cyanobacteria and some of the picoplankton groups).
Studying the Milky Way Galaxy Using ParaHeap-k

Dramatic increases in the amount and complexity of stellar data must be matched by new or refined algorithms that can help scientists make sense of this data and so better understand the universe. ParaHeap-k is a parallel cluster algorithm for analyzing big data that can potentially prove useful to astronomical research.
Use of repeated measures to interpret genetic and environmental correlations in animal research.

A method for partitioning environmental correlations into two distinct sources of covariation—lifetime rearing effects and idiosyncratic stimulus events occurring during testing (“noise”)—is presented. The method, which is based on structural equation modeling of repeated tests, is demonstrated using correlations obtained from pairs of sessions in an Open Field Test and in a Light–Dark Test. Heritabilities of most behaviors are low, but genetic correlations between- and within-test sessions are high and thus substantively influence phenotypic correlations, including test–retest reliability. Testing “noise” is usually the primary source of environmental covariance among pairs of measures, although some instances of rearing environment being the sole source of E correlations were observed. Effects of Session 1 testing and/or the additional experience between S1 and S2 test sessions produce some significant differences between S1 and S2 within-session correlations, but these are usually not large. Although varying in size, the genetic, the rearing environment and the test environment correlations between a pair of variables were always consistent in sign. The analysis demonstrates the value of incorporating some of the contemporary research and analytic strategies used in the human individual differences field into animal studies.
Factorization algorithms and non‐stationary wiener filtering

An algorithm for the linear least squares prediction of some classes of non‐stationary processes is obtained. The non‐stationary models under study recover and unify, in a single framework, the Kolmogorov‐Wiener and the Kalman theory of prediction, and also contain other non-stationary classes such as second order martingale difference processes.
Die Exartikulation im Sprunggelenk nach Syme im Kindesalter

James Syme beschrieb 1843 zum ersten Mal sein Verfahren zur Amputation im Sprunggelenk bei Erwachsenen [5]: Es umfast die Praparation eines vorderen und hinteren Weichteillappens, eine subperiostale Durchtrennung unter Erhalt des Fersenpolsters sowie eine Umformung von distaler Tibia und Fibula, um die Form des Amputationsstumpfes zu verbessern und die Anpassung einer Prothese zu erleichtern. Ein analoges Verfahren bei Kindern unterscheidet sich vom Vorgehen bei Erwachsenen dadurch, das die Wachstumszonen erhalten bleiben. Sonst bestunde die Gefahr, das der Stumpf uberschiesend wachst und der Knochen die Haut durchspiesen kann. Aufgrund des Anpassungs- und Wachstumspotentials kann bei Kindern eine echte Exartikulation des Sprunggelenks durchgefuhrt werden, ohne das eine ausgedehnte operative Modellierung der Knochenenden notwendig ist.
Use of 5E models to enhance user experience

Understanding the terminology used by different user groups as they interact with a system's information is a primary focus of information analysis. User terminology directly reflects audience groups' mental models, how they perceive the overall situation, and how their needs differ from other groups. The web of mappings of terminology between user groups and system interaction goals provides a path to developing a 5E model that can be carried forward into the design process. During the early information analysis, the designers and user experience people have to analyze multiple audiences, create personas, create a 5E model for each persona, and then resolve and merge the differences so that the final design works for all audiences. Building 5E models for multiple audiences provides a method to optimize across those audiences.
The effect of elevated serum progesterone during ovulation induction in in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer.

Objective: Our purpose was to determine whether elevated progesterone (P) during ovulation induction in IVF-ET cycles is a poor prognostic factor for achieving pregnancy. Design: We retrospectively reviewed 672 consecutive IVF-ET cycles in which ovulation was performed using luteal LA downregulation and hMG. Setting: The ART program at the Brigham & Women's Hospital, a tertiary care institution, was the study setting. Main Outcome Measures: Patients were divided into groups by serum P levels at baseline, on stimulation day 5, on the day of hCG injection, and, on the day after hCG injection and the following parameters were compared: duration of luteal LA treatment, number of ampoules of hMG used, estradiol (E2) levels, number of follicles ≥12 mm, number of follicles ≥15 mm, number of oocytes, number of normal embryos, number of polyspermic embryos, fertilization rate, implantation rate, and clinical and ongoing/live birth pregnancy rates. Results: Based on serum P level, patients were divided into three groups: Group I, ≤0.31 ng/ml (conversion factor to SIU, 3.180); Group II, and >0.3 and 0.31 ng/ml on stimulation day 5 was associated with a higher fertilization rate in Groups II and III, but there was no difference in the clinical pregnancy or ongoing/live birth rates among the three groups. Based on P on the day of hCG administration, Groups II and III had significantly more oocytes and higher fertilization rates than did Group I, however, clinical pregnancy and ongoing/live birth rates were not significantly different. On the day after hCG, there was a trend toward a higher clinical pregnancy rate in Group III, which had younger patients, better follicular recruitment, and more embryos than Groups I or II, but these differences did not reach statistical significance. Conclusions: Serum P >0.31 ng/ml during ovulation induction reflects good follicular recruitment, and is not a predictor of IVF outcome.
Synthesis of thiazole-4-carboxamide-adenine difluoromethylenediphosphonates substituted with fluorine at C-2' of the adenosine.

Abstract Synthesis of an analogue 3 of thiazole-4-carboxamide adenine-dinucleotide (TAD) in which the α-oxygen atom of the pyrophosphate bridge is replaced by a difluoromethylene group has been achieved. Likewise, 2′-deoxy-2′-fluoroadenosine containing analogues of TAD (4) and its difluoromethylenediphosphonate congener (5 have been synthesized. Adenosine 5′-difluoromethylenediphosphonate (8) was prepared from 5′-O-tosyladenosine (6) and tris-tetra-n-butylammonium)difluoromethylene-diphosphonate (7) by a modified procedure of Poulter's.2 Compound 8 was converted into the 2′-3′-cyclic carbonate 9 by treatment with triethyl orthoformate. Treatment of 9 with 2′-3′-O-isopro-pylidenetiazofurin (10) in pyridine in the presence of DCC gave a mixture of dinucleotide 11 and the isopropylidene-protected diadenosine tetraphosphonate 12. After deprotection of 11, the desired β-difluoromethylene TAD (3_ was separated by HPLC as the minor product. The diadenosine tetraphosphonate 12, an analogue of Ap4A, was obtained as the major component. Alternatively, 2′-3′-O-isopropylidenetiazofurin (10) was tosylated, and the product 13 was further converted into the corresponding difluoromethylenediphosphonate 14 by coupling with 7. DCC-catalyzed coupling of 14 with 2′-deoxy-2′-fluoroadenosine (15) followed by deisopropylidenation afforded the anlogue 5. Again the corresponding tetraphosphonate analogue of tiazofurin 17 was the predominant product. Dinucleotide 4 was obtained by coupling of the carbonyldiimidazole-activated tiazofurin 5′-monophosphate with 2′-deoxy-2′-fluoroadenosine 5′-monophosphate. 2′-Deoxy-2′-fluoroadenosine (′15) was prepared efficiently from the known N6-benzoyl-3′-O-tetrahydropyranyladenosine (18), which was converted into 3′-O-tetrahydropyranyl-2′-O-triflyl-5′-O-trityladenosine (20) by tritylation and triflation. Treatment of 20 with sodium acetate in hexamethylphosphoric triamide, followed by deaceltylation afforded 9-(3-O-tetrahydropyranyl-5-O-trityl-β- d -arabinofuranosyl)-N6-benzoyladenine (22), which was then treated with DAST. After deprotection of the product, 15 was obtained in good yield.
Evaluating the consequences of reproduction in complex salmonid life cycles

Abstract Reproduction by individuals at different stages in the life cycle contributes differentially to population growth. This paper shows how to evaluate these contributions in complex life cycles, in which individuals may be classified by size or developmental stage as well as age. Population growth is measured by the maximum eigenvalue of a projection matrix corresponding to a life cycle graph. The sensitivity of this eigenvalue to changes in reproduction can be expressed as a simple function of the demographic parameters describing the life cycle. The sensitivity of growth rate to reproduction declines with age, at a rate which is inversely proportional to survival and directly proportional to growth rate itself. The importance of alternate developmental pathways is related to the reproductive values of the stages to which those pathways lead. The latter observation is used to examine the possibility that natural selection in response to increased fishing pressure at sea is responsible for the recent increase in precocious maturation by male parr in the Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) of the Matamek River, Quebec.
Assessing culturally diverse exceptional children

Major issues that are confronting professionals in the assessment of culturally diverse exceptional children are discussed. The difference between testing and assessment is examined, along with the purpose of assessment and the factors that should be considered in the assessment of culturally diverse children. A definition of cultural diversity is examined along with somediscussion of the importance of cultural awareness in the assessment process. The authors also review traditional characteristicscultural values, learning stylesand problems in identifying Afro‐American, Hispanic American, Asian American, and Native American exceptional children. Alternativetechniques and available strategies are also recommended in assessing culturally diverse exceptional children.
Fluctuations in a superfluid near Tλ

Abstract Macroscopic phase and amplitude fluctuations in the order parameter for the superfluid are examined and the short-range coherence lengths, scaling laws, susceptibilities, and the anomalous specific heat are discussed.
Interface Architecture Determined Electrocatalytic Activity of Pt on Vertically Oriented TiO2 Nanotubes

The surface atomic structure and chemical state of Pt is consequential in a variety of surface-intensive devices. Herein we present the direct interrelationship between the growth scheme of Pt films, the resulting atomic and electronic structure of Pt species, and the consequent activity for methanol electro-oxidation in Pt/TiO2 nanotube hybrid electrodes. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) measurements were performed to relate the observed electrocatalytic activity to the oxidation state and the atomic structure of the deposited Pt species. The atomic structure as well as the oxidation state of the deposited Pt was found to depend on the pretreatment of the TiO2 nanotube surfaces with electrodeposited Cu. Pt growth through Cu replacement increases Pt dispersion, and a separation of surface Pt atoms beyond a threshold distance from the TiO2 substrate renders them metallic, rather than cationic. The increased dispersion and the metallic character of Pt results in...
Biogas plants for small farms in Kenya

Abstract This paper reports on the authors' efforts to improve the small farm community welfare in Kenya by promoting biogas technology. The survey showed that fuel was used in Kenyan farms mainly for cooking and lighting, and wood, crop residue, and charcoal were the predominant fuel sources. Mostly women collected firewood, fetched water, and cooked. Building a fire with these fuels was time-consuming, and smoke from these fires was damaging to the living environment. Hence, applying biogas technology to Kenyan small farms not only guarantees a reliable, renewable energy source, but also provides other benefits, such as cleaner household environments, better working conditions for housewives,
TiO2 photocatalytic degradation and detoxification of cylindrospermopsin

Abstract Cylindrospermopsin (CYN), a problematic potent cyanotoxin, is produced during harmful algal blooms and its presence in fresh water lakes and rivers is a threat to human health. UV TiO2 photocatalysis leads to the rapid degradation of CYN following pseudo-first-order kinetics. The pseudo-first-order rate constants (k) are strongly dependent on the reaction conditions, including the initial CYN and TiO2 concentrations, light intensity and solution pH. The observed faster degradation under acidic conditions may be due to the enhanced electrostatic attraction between the positive TiO2 surface and the anionic sulfate group in CYN. The degradation is proportional to the light intensity under our experimental conditions. The roles of reactive species, OH, 1O2, e−cb and h+vb were studied by adding the specific scavengers and the results indicate that OH plays a critical role in UV TiO2 photocatalysis of CYN. Detailed product studies using liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC/MS) indicate OH mediated degradation pathways predominantly occur via oxidation of the uracil ring in CYN, leading to hydroxylation and ring opened products. ELISA results demonstrate that TiO2 photocatalysis leads to a significant decrease in the biological activity of CYN as a function of treatment time. Our results indicate TiO2 photocatalysis may be applicable for the degradation of CYN and uracil based compounds.
The tourism satellite account: foundations, progress and issues

Abstract In reaction to several decades of a pluralistic approach to measuring the impact of tourism on national economies, the tourism satellite account (TSA) has been proposed to provide consistent and comprehensive measurements across nations, through time, and with country’s own systems of national accounts. The principles of national income accounting promulgated in 1993 by the United Nations and other multi-lateral organizations made provision for satellite accounts for activities not now separated in the national account structure. This article outlines the development of this new tool for analyzing the economic impact of tourism. It explains the concepts and coverage of the TSA and how it expands the scope of traditional tourism impact analysis. It outlines how the results may be employed in these analyses. It explores the major issues of developing the TSA concepts and measurement techniques, and why these are important to ensuring the full potential of this promising new analytical tool is realized.
Exploring the significance of structural hierarchy in material systems—A review

Structural hierarchy and heterogeneity are inherent features in biological materials, but their significance in affecting the system behaviors is yet to be fully understood. In Sec. I, this article first identifies the major characteristics that manifest, or are resulted from, such hierarchy and heterogeneity in materials. Then in Sec. II, it presents several typical natural material systems including wood, bone, and others from animals to illustrate the proposed views. The paper also discusses a man-made smart material, textiles, to demonstrate that textiles are hierarchal, multifunctional, highly complex, and arguably the engineered material closest on a par with biological materials in complexity, and, more importantly, we can still learn quite a few new things from them in development of novel materials. In Sec. III, the paper summarizes several general approaches in developing a hierarchal material system at various scales, including structure thinning and splitting, laminating and layering, spatial and angular orientation, heterogenization and hybridization, and analyzes the advantages associated with them. It also stresses the adverse consequences once the existing structural hierarchy breaks down due to various mutations in biological systems. It discusses, in particular, the influences of moisture and air on material properties, given the near ubiquitousness of both air and water in materials. It next deals with in Sec. IV, some theoretical issues in material research including packing and ordering, the bi-modular mechanics, the behavior non-affinities due to disparity in hierarchal levels, the importance of system dimensionality in a hierarchal material system, and more philosophically, the issues of Nature's wisdom versus Intelligent Design. Section V then offers some concluding remarks, including a recap of the major issues covered in this article, and some general conclusions derived from the analyses and discussions. The main purpose of this paper is to make an effort to explore, identify, derive, or theorize some generic principles based on the existing results, not to offer another comprehensive review of current research activities in the fields for that there already exist some excellent ones. This paper examines the related topics with several approaches to not only reveal the underlying geometrical and physical mechanisms but also to emphasize the ways in which such mechanisms may be applied to developing engineered material systems with novel properties.
Mathematical model of microbicidal flow dynamics and optimization of rheological properties for intra-vaginal drug delivery: Role of tissue mechanics and fluid rheology

Topically applied microbicide gels can provide a self-administered and effective strategy to prevent sexually transmitted infections (STIs). We have investigated the interplay between vaginal tissue elasticity and the yield-stress of non-Newtonian fluids during microbicide deployment. We have developed a mathematical model of tissue deformation driven spreading of microbicidal gels based on thin film lubrication approximation and demonstrated the effect of tissue elasticity and fluid yield-stress on the spreading dynamics. Our results show that both elasticity of tissue and yield-stress rheology of gel are strong determinants of the coating behavior. An optimization framework has been demonstrated which leverages the flow dynamics of yield-stress fluid during deployment to maximize retention while reaching target coating length for a given tissue elasticity.
Experimental Characterization of the Higher Vibrationally Excited States of HCO+: Determination of ω2, x22, g22, and B(030)

Abstract Analyses of high Rydberg series of HCO converging to the (030) vibrational state of the cation establish rovibrational state-detailed thresholds for HCO + . UV-visible laser double resonance isolates series for assignment. Strongly vertical Rydberg–Rydberg transitions from photoselected N ′ = 0 and N ′ = 2 rotational levels of the Σ − Renner–Teller vibronic component of the 3 p π 2 Π (030) complex define individual series converging to rotational levels, N + = 1 through 5 and 3 through 5 of the HCO + vibrational states (03 1 0) and (03 3 0), respectively. Extrapolation of autoionizing series locates the positions of these rovibrational states to within ±0.01 cm −1 . The use of this information combined with precise ionization limits for lower vibrational states determined from earlier Rydberg extrapolations and spectroscopic information available from infrared absorption measurements enables an estimate of the force-field parameters for HCO + bending. These parameters include the harmonic bending frequency, ω 2 = 842.57 cm −1 , the vibrational angular momentum splitting constant, g 22 = 3.26 cm −1 , and the diagonal bending anharmonicity, x 22 = −2.53 cm −1 , separated from the off-diagonal contribution, x 12 , by reference to ab initio calculations. Results of experiment on the higher vibrationally excited states of HCO + are compared with recent theoretical predictions.
Fun Science: The Use of Variable Manipulation to Avoid Content Instruction

This study examined the beliefs and rationale pre-service elementary teachers used to choose activities for upper-elementary students in a 1-week intensive science camp. Six undergraduate elementary pre-service teachers were observed as they took a semester-long science methods class that culminated in a 1-week science camp. This qualitative, phenomenological study found that counselors chose activities with the possibility of fun being a priority rather than teaching content, even after they were confronted with campers who demanded more content. Additionally, all six of the counselors agreed that activities involving variable manipulation were the most successful, even though content knowledge was not required to complete the activities. The counselors felt the variable manipulation activities were successful because students were constructing products and therefore getting to the end of the activity. Implications include building an awareness of the complexity of self-efficacy of science teaching and outcome expectancy to improve teacher education programs.
Identification of Destructive Processes Affecting Hydraulic Servomechanisms of the Aircraft Control Assist System

The paper presents identification of destructive processes that affect hydraulic servomechanisms of the aircraft control assist system and influence of these processes onto values of parameters that characterize structures and operation of these systems. Particular attention is paid to the description of essential properties attributable to operation of the distributing device within a hydraulic servomechanism with a spotlight to physical background of the process when friction equilibrium of a sliding hydraulic pair is disturbed, which leads to its destruction. More specifically the issue associated with violation of friction stability in a cylindrical, sliding hydraulic pair due to the impact of an unbalanced radial hydrostatic force as well as material contamination and a hydrodynamic axial force. Qualitative assessment of unbalanced radial forces are carried out for the case when cylindrical slider is placed inside a guiding sleeve with consideration of various positions of the slider against the sleeve. Consequently, a set of parameters was found out with the aim to characterize operation quality (dependability) of a hydraulic servomechanism. Finally, characteristics of a hydraulic servomechanism with a linear distributing slider or a rotary slider have been developed as a function of their lifetime.
Effect of Colesevelam on Liver Fat Quantified by Magnetic Resonance in Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Bile acid sequestrants (BAS) lower plasma low density lipoprotein levels and improve glycemic control. Colestimide, a BAS, has been claimed by computed tomography to reduce liver fat. Therefore, we examined the efficacy of colesevelam, a potent BAS, to decrease liver fat in patients with biopsy-proven nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Liver fat was measured by a novel magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique, the proton-density-fat-fraction (PDFF), as well as by conventional MR spectroscopy (MRS). Fifty patients with biopsy-proven NASH were randomly assigned to either colesevelam 3.75 g/day orally or placebo for 24 weeks. The primary outcome was change in liver fat as measured by MRI-PDFF in colocalized regions of interest within each of the nine liver segments. Compared with placebo, colesevelam increased liver fat by MRI-PDFF in all nine segments of the liver with a mean difference of 5.6% (P = 0.002). We cross-validated the MRI-PDFF-determined fat content with that assessed by colocalized MRS; the latter showed a mean difference of 4.9% (P = 0.014) in liver fat between the colesevelam and the placebo arms. MRI-PDFF correlated strongly with MRS-determined hepatic fat content (r2 = 0.96, P < 0.0001). Liver biopsy assessment of steatosis, cellular injury, and lobular inflammation did not detect any effect of treatment. Conclusion: Colesevelam increases liver fat in patients with NASH as assessed by MRI as well as MRS without significant changes seen on histology. Thus, MRI and MRS may be better than histology to detect longitudinal changes in hepatic fat in NASH. Underlying mechanisms and whether the small MR-detected increase in liver fat has clinical consequences is not known. (Hepatology 2012;56:922–932)
COMPUTATION OF STRESSES, STRAINS, AND DEFORMATIONS OF TIRES

Tire construction, loading, and response are reviewed, and a hierarchy of tire structural analysis models is presented, progressing from simple to complex. Model descriptions and applications include ring, string, and beam-on-elastic foundation models, netting analysis, membrane analysis, thin shell analysis, finite element models, constant strain triangular element models, and analysis of shell and isoparametric elements. Future developments in the analysis of tire displacement, stress, and strain are indicated (e.g. axisymmetric modeling, effect of footprint loading, use of contact algorithms with stick-slip capabilities).
Neurosteroid modulation of [3H]flunitrazepam binding in the medulla: an autoradiographic study

Neurosteroids bind to unique sites on the GABAA receptor complex and modulate receptor function. The effects of neurosteroids on GABAA receptors have been well characterized in forebrain regions. However, little is known about their effects on GABAA receptors in the medulla, especially those areas involved in autonomic reflex pathways. Stimulation of [3H]flunitrazepam binding to the GABAA receptor by two progesterone metabolites, 3α-hydroxy-5α-pregnan-20-one (3α-OH-DHP) and 3β-hydroxy-5α-pregnan-20-one (3β-OH-DHP), was studied using autoradiographic methods in the medulla and cerebellum of female rats at estrus. [3H]Flunitrazepam binding was enhanced by 3α-OH-DHP in every nucleus examined in the medulla and cerebellum. This effect was stereoselective since 3β-OH-DHP had no effect on binding in any region. No differences were observed in the degree of stimulation of [3H]flunitrazepam binding by 3α-OH-DHP among medullary brain regions. However, in the cerebellum, the stimulation of binding was significantly greater in the granular layer than in the molecular layer. Stimulation of [3H]flunitrazepam binding by 3α-OH-DHP in nuclei involved in the baroreflex pathways supports previous studies which report that neurosteroids modulate autonomic regulation of blood pressure. These actions may also underlie alterations in autonomic function during pregnancy.
Post-Fire Plant Recovery in the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts of Western North America

Abstract Increasing wildfire activity is one of the most pressing management concerns in arid lands of the American West. To examine post-fire recovery of perennial vegetation in the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts, I analyzed data systematically synthesized from the literature. Post-fire sprouting by desert perennials is generally limited but varies among species. For example, only 3–37% of Larrea tridentata sprouted compared to 64–86% of Yucca schidigera . Four of five studies measuring recovery of perennial cover reported close relationships ( r 2 = 0.67–0.99) between time since fire (TSF) and cover. In fact, three studies measuring the longest TSF (≥37 years) found that cover had returned to within 10% cover of unburned areas within approximately 40 years. Conversely, post-fire species composition exhibited little convergence with unburned composition in five of six studies even 47 years after fire. Sphaeralcea ambigua , Gutierrezia spp., Achnatherum speciosum , Encelia spp., Hymenoclea salsola , and Baileya multiradiata had the highest burned:unburned abundance ratios, although overall post-fire community composition differed between the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts. Analyzing the literature as a whole suggested some generalities (e.g., that perennial cover reestablishes faster than composition), but more work is required for improving specific knowledge about plant recovery among fires, sites, species, and climates.
Linker histories are not essential and affect chromatin condensation in vivo

Abstract We have (separately) disrupted all of the expressed macronuclear copies of the HHO gene encoding macronuclear histone H1 and of the micronuclear linker histone ( MLH ) gene encoding the protein MicLH in Tetrahymena thermophila. These disruptions are shown to eliminate completely the expression of each protein. Strains without either linker histone grow at normal rates and reach near-normal cell densities, demonstrating that linker histones are not essential for cell survival. Histone H1 knockout (δH1) cells have enlarged DAPI-stained macronuclei and normal-sized micronuclei, while MicLH knockout (δMicLH) cells have enlarged micronuclei and normal-sized macronuclei. δMicLH cells undergo mitosis normally. However, the micronuclear mitotic chromosome structure is less condensed. These studies provide evidence that linker histones are nonessential and are involved in chromatin packaging and condensation in vivo.