cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Role of Self-regulation Failures and Self-care in the Link Between Daily Sleep Quality and Blood Glucose Among Adults with Type 1 Diabetes

BACKGROUND Sleep, a process that restores the body's ability to self-regulate, may be one important factor affecting self-care behaviors and blood glucose (BG) levels. The link between sleep quality, self-care behaviors, and BG levels may occur by sleep-altering daily self-regulatory failures. PURPOSE This study examined whether the relation between sleep quality and self-care behaviors occurred through self-regulation failures and whether the relation between sleep quality and BG levels occurred through self-regulation failures and self-care behaviors sequentially. METHODS One hundred and ninety-nine adults with type 1 diabetes (T1D) completed an online questionnaire for 14 days in which they reported sleep quality, self-regulation failures, and self-care behaviors. BG levels were gathered from glucometers. Analyses involved multilevel mediation models and focused on daily within-person and between-person variability of sleep quality. RESULTS Better daily sleep quality was associated with higher self-care behaviors at both within-person and between-person levels, and self-regulation failures mediated the association between daily sleep quality and daily self-care behaviors at both within-person and between-person levels. Better daily sleep quality was associated with better BG levels at the within-person level and self-regulation behaviors and self-care behaviors sequentially mediated the association between daily sleep quality and daily BG levels at the within-person level. CONCLUSION This study provides a process account of the importance of daily sleep quality of adults with T1D, as well as one potential mechanism-self-regulation-that may explain the effect of sleep quality on diabetes outcomes.
Can readers fully adopt the perspective of the protagonist

Despite the centrality of the protagonist during narrative comprehension, evidence indicates that readers do not typically approach the text from the protagonist's point of view. Experiments 1a-1c demonstrated that both explicit task instructions and the first-person point of view resulted in comprehension being influenced by perspective-relevant information; this indicated that readers were adopting the perspective of the protagonist. However, Experiments 2a-3b showed that even when readers adopt the protagonist's perspective, they cannot do so to the exclusion of related perspective-irrelevant information. Results are discussed in the context of the RI-Val model of comprehension in which perspective-relevant information and perspective-irrelevant information are both available and compete for influence during comprehension.
Adaptive QoS-Based Real-Time Communication Framework for WSANs

As wireless sensor network deployments continue to expand there is a growing trend to not only monitor the environment but to control it as well. Traditionally, the monitoring capability (sensing) and the controlling capability (actuation) were tightly coupled integrated on the same hardware device. However, in order to provide for a higher degree of mobile control the sensing and control elements are becoming de-coupled and spread across distributed architectures. While this new approach provides for a new generation of control systems it also presents some considerable challenges related to quality-of-service (QoS) provisioning. These new challenges make it difficult to meet some of the requirements such as timeliness, reliability or stability of a cyber-physical control system. Therefore, in order to address some of these challenges we present a novel real-time communications framework for wireless sensor and actuator networks (WSANs). Our technique provides for a QoS based approach that utilizes feedback control to dynamically adapt to environmental changes and a prioritized medium access control protocol for deterministic network behavior. A significant benefit of our approach is that it is an application layer solution that does not require routing changes or modifications to the medium access layer (MAC) of the network stack. Simulations results indicate that our approach provides for deterministic behavior and improved QoS flows that can adapt to unpredictable network traffic patterns while still providing required levels of service to critical control applications.
A Systematic Review of Biological Mechanisms and Chronic Pain Outcomes During Stress Reduction Interventions

Background:Nonpharmacologic stress reduction interventions provide an opportunity to modify chronic pain trajectories; however, the biological mechanisms underlying these interventions are poorly u...
Chapter 6 – Diffusion flames

Nonpremixed combustion is examined for gaseous fuel jets and liquid droplets. The jet diffusion flame structure is analyzed and the characteristic flame height and shape described including the effects of buoyancy and turbulence. Droplet evaporation and combustion in quiescent environments are analyzed and the “d2” law of diffusion-controlled burning derived. Droplet combustion in sprays or clouds is presented as well as an analysis of the effects of convection on condensed-phase fuel-burning rates.
Unhealthy alcohol and drug use is associated with an increased length of stay and hospital cost in patients undergoing major upper gastrointestinal and pancreatic oncologic resections.

Abstract Background Few studies evaluate the impact of unhealthy alcohol and drug use on the risk and severity of postoperative outcomes after upper gastrointestinal and pancreatic oncologic resections. Methods The National Inpatient Sample was queried to identify patients undergoing total gastrectomy, esophagectomy, total pancreatectomy, and pancreaticoduodenectomy between 2012 and 2015. Unhealthy alcohol and drug use was assessed by the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, and National Inpatient Sample coder designation. Multivariable regression was used to identify associations between alcohol and drug use and postoperative complication, duration of stay, hospital cost, and mortality. Results In the study, 59,490 patients met inclusion criteria; 2,060 (3.5%) had unhealthy alcohol use; 1,265 (2.1%) had unhealthy drug use. Postoperative complication rates were higher in patients with alcohol and drug use than in abstainers (67.5% vs 62.8% vs 57.2%; P Conclusion Unhealthy substance use is associated with increased rates of postoperative complications, prolonged length of stay, and costs in patients undergoing major upper gastrointestinal and pancreatic oncologic resections. Screening and abstinence interventions should be incorporated into the preoperative care pathways for these patients.
Gynecologic Pathology Presenting As Urologic Symptoms: A Lesson on Pelvic Nerves

Study Objective Patients with underlying gynecologic pathology often present with a combination of seemingly unrelated and non-specific complaints such as pelvic pain, urinary frequency, urgency, and gastrointestinal symptoms. Thus, patients are often misdiagnosed and mismanaged. A thorough understanding of pelvic nerve anatomy is important in properly diagnosing and treating these patients. Design N/A Setting N/A Patients or Participants This video will highlight two patient cases which demonstrate how gynecologic pathology can present as urologic symptoms secondary to disease involvement of certain pelvic nerves. The first patient is a 32 year old female who struggled with urinary frequency, urgency, nocturia, and pelvic pain; all of which were secondary to endometriotic implants overlying the hypogastric nerve. The second patient is a 31 year old female who also presented with urinary urgency, nocturia, and pelvic pain which was secondary to a large broad ligament fibroid impinging the hypogastric nerve and causing mass effect on her bladder. Interventions The first patient underwent robotic assisted laparoscopic excision of endometriotic tissue. The second patient underwent robotic assisted laparoscopic myomectomy. Measurements and Main Results Each of these patients had pathology either directly compressing the pelvic nerves or causing chemical irritation to the nerves. Postoperatively, after removal of endometrial implants resulting in decreased nerve irritation, the first patient's pain and urinary symptoms improved. Likewise, in the second patient, when the fibroid was removed the compression of the surrounding pelvic nerves and bladder were relieved and the patients, symptoms subsequently resolved. Conclusion Understanding pelvic nerve anatomy is important in properly diagnosing and managing patients who do not present with conventional gynecologic symptoms. It is important to remember that with structural and biochemical irritation of these nerves, gynecologic pathology can present as urologic or even gastrointestinal symptoms. Proper diagnosis saves the patient from unnecessary testing and ineffective treatments.
Spheroplast induction inAnabaena variabilis Kütz andA. azollae stras

Spheroplasts were obtained by lysozyme treatment of 48 hour (4– 8cells) akinete germlings of the cultured cyanobacteriaAnabaena variabilis andA. azollae originally isolated from the leaf cavity of the fernAzolla pinnata. The osmotic stabilizer was 0.5 M sucrose. At least 50% of the cells in a short filament became spheroplasts after 1–4 hours in lysozyme (1 mg/ml) in incubation medium at 34 °C, with greater than 75% viability after 2 hours. The spheroplasts were osmotically fragile and showed intense chlorophyll autofluorescence in UV light. In phase microscopy, treated cells appeared larger, became spherical and lost some of their optical refraction. Transmission electron microscopy confirmed the loss of the peptidoglycan layer and the partial remains of the outer membrane after lysozyme exposure. We previously obtained protoplasts ofAzolla fern leaf cells so that we now can study the recognition sites in both members of theAzolla/Anabaena nitrogen fixing symbiosis during cell wall degradation and regeneration.
The Preacher's Wife: The Precarious Power of Evangelical Women Celebrities

Review of: The Preacher's Wife: The Precarious Power of Evangelical Women Celebrities, by Kate Bowler
Controlling Opportunistic and Anti-Competitive Intellectual Property Litigation

Abstract This Article analyzes two methods of controlling rent-seeking costs associated with opportunistic and anti-competitive intellectual property lawsuits. One method discourages rent-seeking costs by reducing the credibility of weak lawsuits. This can be accomplished by restricting preliminary injunctions, encouraging declaratory judgment suits, adjusting the substantive law to encourage summary judgment for defendants, and shifting attorney fees from rent-seeking plaintiffs to prevailing defendants. In addition, antitrust suits have a limited role in deterring the most egregious anti-competitive conduct. A more extreme method eliminates rent-seeking costs by restricting or eliminating certain intellectual property rights. Such an extreme measure is justified if a right generates relatively little direct social benefit, and preand post-trial control measures are not effective in containing rent-seeking costs.
Urine strontium-90 (Sr-90) manual and automated pre-analytical separation followed by liquid scintillation counting

Responding to a radiological or nuclear incident may require assessing tens to hundreds of thousands of people for possible radionuclide contamination. The measurement of radioactive Sr is important because of its impact on people’s health. The existing analytical method for urine Sr-90 analysis using crown ethers is laborious and involves possible exposure to concentrated acids; therefore, this work is devoted to the development of the automated Sr-90 separation process, which became possible with the prepFast pre-analytical system (Elemental Scientific, Inc).
A machine learning approach to model for end-stage liver disease score in cardiac surgery.

Objective Model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) likely has nonlinear effects on operative outcomes. We use machine learning to evaluate the nonlinear (dependent variable may not correlate one to one with an increased risk in the outcome) relationship between MELD and outcomes of cardiac surgery. Methods Society of Thoracic Surgery indexed elective cardiac operations between 2011 and 2018 were included. MELD was retrospectively calculated. Logistic regression models and an imbalanced random forest classifier were created on operative mortality. Cox regression models and random forest survival models evaluated survival. Variable importance analysis (VIMP) ranked variables by predictive power. Linear and machine-learned models were compared with receiver operator characteristic (ROC) and Brier score. Results We included 3872 patients. Operative mortality was 1.7% and 5-year survival was 82.1%. MELD was the fourth largest positive predictor on VIMP analysis for operative long-term survival and the strongest negative predictor for operative mortality. MELD was not a significant predictor for operative mortality or long-term survival in the logistic or Cox regressions. The logistic model ROC area was 0.762, compared to the random forest classifier ROC of 0.674. The Brier score of the random forest survival model was larger than the Cox regression starting at 2 years and continuing throughout the study period. Bootstrap estimation on linear regression demonstrated machine-learned models were superior. Conclusions MELD and mortality are nonlinear. MELD was insignificant in the Cox multivariable regression but was strongly important in the random forest survival model and when using bootstrapping, the superior utility was demonstrated of the machine-learned models.
Subdivision Blocks and Component Placement in Early-Stage Ship Design

One task in ship design involves arranging a large number of components within the compartments of a ship. A faster, more efficient way of doing this is by allowing an algorithm to automatically place these components in the ship. Representing compartments as subdivision blocks simplifies and speeds up the design process. This paper details a method to create subdivision blocks from the compartments of a ship and to fully integrate them within LEAPS, the Navy's data repository, allowing the subdivision blocks to be used within all LEAPS-integrated software. The algorithm, several examples, and the primary application of this work are explained.
Imaging membrane remodeling during regulated exocytosis in live mice

In this mini-review we focus on the use of time-lapse light microscopy to study membrane remodeling during protein secretion in live animals. In particular, we highlight how subcellular intravital microscopy has enabled imaging the dynamics of both individual secretory vesicles and the plasma membrane, during different steps in the exocytic process. This powerful approach has provided us with the unique opportunity to unravel the role of the actin cytoskeleton in regulating this process under physiological conditions, and to overcome the shortcomings of more reductionist model systems.
MO-AB-201-00: Radiation Safety Officer Update

The role of the Radiation Safety Officer at a medical facility can be complicated. The complexity of the position is based on the breadth of services provided at the institution and the nature of the radioactive materials license. Medical practices are constantly changing and the use of ionizing radiation continues to rise in this area. Some of the newer medical applications involving radiation have unique regulatory and safety issues that must be addressed. Oversight of the uses of radiation start at the local level (radiation safety officer, radiation safety committee) and are heavily impacted by outside agencies (i.e. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, State Radiologic Health, The Joint Commission (TJC), etc). This session will provide both an overview of regulatory oversight and essential compliance practices as well as practical ways to assess and introduce some of the new applications utilizing radioactive materials into your medical facility. Learning Objectives: Regulatory Compliance and Safety with New Radiotherapies: Spheres and Ra-223 (Lance Phillips) 1. Understand the radioactive materials license amendment process to add new radiotherapies (i.e., SIR-Spheres, Therasphere, Xofigo). 2. Understand the AU approval process for microspheres and Xofigo. 3. Examine the training and handling requirements for new procedures. 4. Understand the process involved with protocol development, SOP in order to define roles and responsibilities. The RSO and The RSC: Challenges and Opportunities (Colin Dimock) 1. Understand how to form an effective Committee. 2. Examine what the Committee does for the Program and the RSO. 3. Understand the importance of Committee engagement. 4. Discuss the balance of the complimentary roles of the RSO and the Committee. The Alphabet Soup of Regulatory Compliance: Being Prepared for Inspections (Linda Kroger) 1. Recognize the various regulatory bodies and organizations with oversight or impact in Nuclear Medicine, Radiology and Radiation Oncology. 2. Examine 10CFR35 requirements as they relate to the everyday practice of Nuclear Medicine and Radiation Oncology. 3. Understand the nature of available guidance documents (e.g., NUREG 1556). 4. Examine the commonalities between TJC and CMS preparedness.
The genetics of oscillations in the human brain.

Publisher Summary Genetic analysis of human brain oscillations helps to identify genetic loci underlying the functional organization of human neuro-electric activity. Basic dynamics in the brain are governed by the brain's natural oscillations––namely, delta, theta, alpha, beta, and gamma. These oscillations provide basic links to brain functions, especially for communication and associative functions, and multiple oscillatory responses provide integrative brain functions. Complex functions are manifested by several superimposed oscillations with various degrees of amplitude, durations, and delays. Various cognitive processes have been attributed to different frequency rhythms of oscillatory responses. Delta responses are assumed to mediate signal detection and decision-making while the theta rhythms are associated with cognitive processes, such as conscious awareness, recognition memory, and episodic retrieval. The slow alpha rhythm (8–10 Hz) has been reported to be modulated by the attribution of attentional resources whereas the fast alpha activity (10–12 Hz) has been found to mediate semantic memory processes as well as stimulus-related aspects.
The Language of Democracy: Vernacular or Esperanto? A Comparison between the Multiculturalist and Cosmopolitan Perspectives:

Will Kymlicka has argued that ‘democratic politics is politics in the vernacular’. Does this statement mean that democratic politics is impossible in a multilingual community, whether at the local, national, regional or global level? This paper discusses this assumption and maintains that democratic politics should imply the willingness of all players to make an effort to understand each other. Democratic politics depends on a willingness to overcome the barriers to mutual understanding, including the linguistic ones. Anytime that there is a community of fate, a democrat should search the available methods to allow deliberation according to the two key conditions of political equality and participation. If linguistic diversity is an obstacle to equality and participation, some methods should be found to overcome it, as it is exemplified by the Esperanto metaphor. The paper illustrates the argument with four cases of multilinguistic political communities: (1) a school in California with English-speaking and Spanish-speaking students; (2) the city of Byelostok in the second half of the nineteenth century, where four different linguistic communities (Polish, Russian, German and Yiddish) coexisted. This led Markus Zamenhof to invent Esperanto; (3) the linguistic problems of the Indian state and the role played by English – a language unspoken by the majority of the Indian population in 1947 – in developing Indian democracy; and (4) the case of the European Parliament, with 20 languages and a wealth of interpreters and translators.
Tendinopathy II: Etiology, Pathology, and Healing of Tendon Injury and Disease

Abstract Tendon pathologies represent a significant portion of musculoskeletal injuries, and due to failed healing responses, have serious and long-lasting effects on patient pain and function. These tendinopathies can be categorized into three main conditions: Tendinosis (tendon degeneration), tendonitis (degeneration and inflammation), and tendon rupture. The etiology of tendinopathies involves a spectrum of intrinsic causes such as age, body habitus, and genetics, as well as extrinsic causes such as abnormal loading, direct mechanical injury, or pharmacological administration. Tendon degeneration can propagate as a response to both biological and mechanical stimuli, resulting in a nonhealing state with decreased mechanical strength. This can ultimately lead to tendon rupture. Although some ruptured tendons undergo an extensive healing response, the resulting tissue never fully regains its native composition, structure, or mechanical properties, predisposing it to risk of rerupture. Further research is required to determine optimal strategies for the treatment of tendinopathy.
Leveraging Hidden Dialogue State to Select Tutorial Moves

A central challenge for tutorial dialogue systems is selecting an appropriate move given the dialogue context. Corpus-based approaches to creating tutorial dialogue management models may facilitate more flexible and rapid development of tutorial dialogue systems and may increase the effectiveness of these systems by allowing data-driven adaptation to learning contexts and to individual learners. This paper presents a family of models, including first-order Markov, hidden Markov, and hierarchical hidden Markov models, for predicting tutor dialogue acts within a corpus. This work takes a step toward fully data-driven tutorial dialogue management models, and the results highlight important directions for future work in unsupervised dialogue modeling.
LONG CHAIN ACYL COENZYME A AND SIGNALING IN NEUTROPHILS : AN INHIBITOR OF ACYL COENZYME A SYNTHETASE, TRIACSIN C, INHIBITS SUPEROXIDE ANION GENERATION AND DEGRANULATION BY HUMAN NEUTROPHILS

Ligand-initiated activation of neutrophils triggers O2- generation, degranulation, phospholipid remodeling, and release of fatty acids such as arachidonate, oleate, and palmitate. Long chain acyl-CoA synthetase converts free fatty acids to acyl-CoA esters; a role for acyl-CoA esters as positive modulators of neutrophil functions is proposed. Physiologically relevant concentrations (1-10 microM) of acyl-CoA esters such as palmitoyl-CoA, enhanced O2- generation triggered by fMet-Leu-Phe or guanosine 5'-O-(thiotriphosphate) (GTP gamma S) but did not act as a trigger per se. Triacsin C, an inhibitor of acyl-CoA synthetase, inhibited fMet-Leu-Phe-elicited O2- generation and degranulation in a concentration-dependent manner. Triacsin C inhibited O2- generation elicited by fMet-Leu-Phe and GTP gamma S in electroporated neutrophils, indicating that acyl-CoA acted downstream from the receptor. Palmitoyl-CoA reversed the Triacsin C-induced inhibition of O2- generation. fMet-Leu-Phe elicited a prompt increase in total long chain acyl-CoA esters. Arachidonoyl-CoA and oleoyl-CoA were elevated 5 s after addition of fMet-Leu-Phe, while palmitoyl-CoA was not elevated until 60 s. Triacsin C inhibited fMet-Leu-Phe-initiated increases in arachidonoyl-CoA, oleoyl-CoA, and palmitoyl-CoA. These results suggest a role for acyl-CoA esters in regulating activation of O2- generation and degranulation at the G protein or subsequent step(s).
Ship weight reduction and efficiency enhancement through combined power cycles

Abstract This work addresses the problem of configuration of gas and steam turbine combined cycles for ships by simultaneously considering increased efficiency and reduced weight as design objectives. The performed analysis provides basic information to produce systems with simultaneous advantage in both aspects. The combined cycle considered, with total constant power of 20 MW, is modeled as a gas turbine in standard configuration coupled to a simple Rankine cycle. Calculation of system's weight includes the machinery as well as the fuel required to guarantee a given time at sea. To estimate the machinery components weight, some scaling relations have been developed and used. The results presented include an analysis of the predicted weight and efficiency of the combined cycle respect to varying design parameters such as amount of heat recovered, time at sea, steam turbine exit quality, steam generator pinch point, and gas turbine performance. When compared against gas turbines in simple cycle mode, combined cycles produce a fuel requirement reduction that can overcome, in terms of weight, the size increase experienced by the plant. However, it is in general observed that minimum weight and maximum efficiency configurations do not necessarily coincide, as both objectives compete at intermediate values of heat recovery. Therefore, the particular choice of the final design depends on the relative importance assigned to each objective for the considered system. Notably, minimum weight and maximum efficiency solutions are very different for short trip periods but become basically the same for very long ones. Regarding gas turbine operation parameters, they have a strong influence on both total weight and efficiency. An interesting consequence is that a low efficiency gas turbine could produce better results than a high efficiency one, given a large enough temperature for the exhaust gases.
Ly6Clow Monocytes Differentiate into Dendritic Cells and Cross-Tolerize T Cells through PDL-1

Monocyte-derived dendritic cells are active participants during the immune response against infection, but whether they play a role in maintaining self-tolerance under steady-state conditions is not known. Here we investigated the differentiation of monocytes, their ability to ingest apoptotic cells, and their potential functionality in vivo. We observed that Ly6C (Gr-1)low mature monocytes up-regulate their MHC II level in the spleen, express high levels of PDL-1 (programmed death ligand 1), and are more efficient than Ly6Chigh immature monocytes in the ingestion of apoptotic cells in vivo. Sorted circulating Ly6Clow monocytes were able to cross-present both apoptotic cell-associated OVA and soluble OVA protein. Monocytes containing apoptotic cells can further differentiate into CD11c+CD8α−MHC II+ splenic dendritic cells that maintained high expression of PDL-1. Since wild-type but not PDL-1-deficient peripheral blood monocytes containing apoptotic cell-associated OVA suppressed the response to OVA immunization, PDL-1 expression was required for monocyte-mediated T cell tolerance. These observations demonstrate that Ly6Clow mature monocytes can promote tolerance to self Ag contained in apoptotic cells through a PDL-1-dependent mechanism.
The treatment of pneumonia in infantsand children

Summary Data on 613 patients with pneumonia admitted to The Children's Hospital of Michigan have been presented. Of these, 336 patients were treated with sulfapyridine, 129 were treated with sulfathiazole, 97 were treated with sulfapyridine and specific antuipneumococcus rabbit serum, and 51 were treated with sulfathiazole and antipneumococcus serum. The average duration of the pneumococcus pneumonia after treatment was instituted for the patients who received either sulfaryridine or sulfathiazole combined with specific antiphneumococcus rabbit serum was less than the average duration for either of the drugs alone. The fatality rate of patients with pneumococcus pneumonia treatedwith any of the four plans of therapy was so low that no statistical comparison of treatment could be made. Empyema as a complication of pneumonia occurred only in thosepatients who had signs of pleural fluid at entry to the hospital and was not observed in a single instance following treatment of pneumonia in the hospital. A small group of patients with pneumococcus pneumonia had a recurrence of the same type of pneumonia following apparently successfull treatment with sulfapyridine or sulfathiozole alone. Recurrent pneumonia was never observed following combined drung and antipneumococcous serum therapy.
T cell receptor specific apoptosis: an endogenous mechanism for T cell homeostasis and potential strategy for antigen modulation of disease

T lymphocytes can undergo an activation/proliferation response or an apoptotic response following T cell receptor engagement. The choice between these outcomes is dictated by the activation state of the T lymphocyte, the presence of interleukin-2 and the strength of the T cell receptor stimulus. Specifically, when quiescent cells encounter effectively presented antigen they are activated and begin to proliferate. In contrast, activated cells, moving through the cell cycle under the influence of IL-2, undergo apoptosis upon reencountering antigen. Both the tumour necrosis factor receptor and CD95 (FAS) are known to participate in mediating this cell death. Genetic defects in the molecules of the lymphocyte death pathway (CD95, FAS ligand, IL-2 receptor) lead to syndromes of autoimmunity and dysregulated lymphocyte homeostasis. An understanding of the principles of the autocrine feedback death model can provide the rationale basis for effective antigen specific modulation of T cell mediated disease processes.
Archaeological potato tuber remains from the casma valley of peru

A collection of 21 preserved tubers of the potato from 4 archaeological sites situated in the Casma Valley of Peru is illustrated and described. The collections from these sites date from the Preceramic Period (2000 B.C.) to the Initial Ceramic Period (1200 B.C.). Identification of the tuber remains was undertaken through a stud) of their starch grains. Comparative material used for this purpose included other archaeological collections of tuber remains from the sites of Chilca and Pachacamac, as well as the fresh and dried tubers of modern-day wild and cultivated potato species.
Methanol Partial Oxidation on MoO3/SiO2 Catalysts: Application of Vibrational Spectroscopic Imaging Techniques in a High Throughput Operando Reactor

A home-built, high-throughput operando (HTO) reactor was applied to study methanol partial oxidation reaction over MoO3/SiO2 catalysts. This HTO reactor combines Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) imaging and Raman spectroscopy for high throughput catalyst evaluation and simultaneously for catalyst characterization under operando conditions. The catalyst activity and selectivity of all parallel reaction channels were followed at a time resolution of 2–20 s by the FT-IR imaging system that offers a spatial resolution of 16,384 pixels over a 2 × 2 inches illuminated cross-section area. Six specialized Raman probes were used to simultaneously collect Raman spectra of the catalyst surfaces and reaction intermediates under operando conditions. The structural variation of the MoO3/SiO2 catalysts with different molybdenum loadings and their catalytic performance at various temperatures were determined. The HTO reactor with the integrated imaging techniques allowed us to track the catalytic activities and the surface morphologies for multiple samples under various operando conditions.
Decay-accelerating factor but not CD59 limits experimental immune-complex glomerulonephritis.

The complex balance between the pro-activating and regulatory influences of the complement system can affect the pathogenesis of immune complex-mediated glomerulonephritis (ICGN). Key complement regulatory proteins include decay accelerating factor (DAF) and CD59, which inhibit C3 activation and C5b-9 generation, respectively. Both are glycosylphosphatidylinositol-linked cell membrane proteins, which are widely distributed in humans and mice. Chronic serum sickness induced by daily immunization with horse spleen apoferritin over 6 weeks was used to induce ICGN in DAF-, CD59- and DAF/CD59-deficient mice, with wild-type littermate mice serving as controls. Both DAF and DAF/CD59-deficient mice had an increased incidence of GN relative to wild-type controls associated with significantly increased glomerular C3 deposition. Disease expression in CD59-deficient mice was no different than wild-type controls. DAF- and DAF/CD59-deficient mice also had increased monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 mRNA expression and glomerular infiltration with CD45+ leukocytes. Our findings suggest that activation of C3 is strongly associated with experimental ICGN while downstream formation of C5b-9 is of lesser pathogenic importance in this model.
Nutrient and oxygen concentrations within the sediments of an Alaskan beach polluted with the Exxon Valdez oil spill

Measurements of the background concentrations of nutrients, dissolved oxygen (DO), and salinity were obtained from a beach that has oil from the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989. Two transects were set across the beach, one passed through an oil patch while the other transect was clean. Three pits were dug in each transect, and they ranged in depth from 0.9 to 1.5 m. The DO was around 1.0 mg L -1 at oiled pits and larger than5mgL -1 at clean pits. The average nutrient concentrations in the beach were 0.39 mg-N L -1 and 0.020 mg-P L -1 . Both concentrationsarelowerthanoptimalvaluesforoilbiodegradation (2 to 10 mg-N L -1 and 0.40 to 2.0 mg-P L -1 ), which suggests that they are both limiting factors for biodegradation. The lowest nitrate and DO values were found in the oiled pits, leading to the conclusion that microbial oil consumption was probably occurring under anoxic conditions and was associated to denitrification. We present evidence that the oxygen level may be a major factor limiting oil biodegradation in the beaches.
JavaCHIME: Java class hierarchy inspector and method executer

Java has emerged as one of the most dynamic programming languages today. During the past eight years it has become a leading choice as the programming language for an introductory course in computer science. Object-oriented programming (OOP) is often considered to be complex and difficult to grasp by both beginners and experienced procedural language programmers. Using Java in an introductory programming language serves a dual purpose; it teaches the syntax and constructs of the Java language as well as general object-oriented programming concepts. This paper describes an instructional environment for Java applications called JavaCHIME. This graphical class browsing and execution environment allows users to examine classes and objects interactively and execute individual methods within them without actually creating a class containing a main method for testing purposes. JavaCHIME serves as a pedagogical tool where novice Java programmers can examine variables and methods, interactively alter the values of variables and test the methods.
Health sensor for human body by using infrared, acoustic energy and magnetic signature

There is a general chain of events that applies to infections. Human body infection could causes by many different types of bacteria and virus in different areas or organ systems. In general, doctor can’t find out the right solution/treatment for infections unless some certain types of bacteria or virus are detected. These detecting processes, usually, take few days to one week to accomplish. However, some infections of the body may not be able to detect at first round and the patient may lose the timing to receive the proper treatment. In this works, we base on Chi’s theory which is an invisible circulation system existed inside the body and propose a novel health sensor which summarizes human’s infrared, acoustic energy and magnetic signature and find out, in minutes, the most possible area or organ system that cause the infection just like what Chi-Kung master can accomplish. Therefore, the detection process by doctor will be shortened and it raises the possibility to give the proper treatment to the patient in the earliest timing.
Software Tools for High-Performance Computiing: Survey and Recommendations

Applications programming for high-performance computing is notoriously difficult. Al-though parallel programming is intrinsically complex, the principal reason why high-performance computing is difficult is the lack of effective software tools. We believe that the lack of tools in turn is largely due to market forces rather than our inability to design and build such tools. Unfortunately, the poor availability and utilization of parallel tools hurt the entire supercomputing industry and the U.S. high performance computing initiative which is focused on applications. A disproportionate amount of resources is being spent on faster hardware and architectures, while tools are being neglected. This article introduces a taxonomy of tools, analyzes the major factors that contribute to this situation, and suggests ways that the imbalance could be redressed and the likely evolution of tools.
Introduction to the Marketing Science Institute special section on academic and practitioner collaborative research

In Spring 2003, just before Dick Wittink became editor of Journal of Marketing Research (JMR) and I became executive director of the Marketing Science Institute (MSI), Dick visited the University of Texas at Austin to participate in our annual research camp. During his visit, Dick and I decided to act on our shared interest in academicpractitioner collaborative research as soon as we took up our responsibilities at JMR and MSI. The result of that decision was a research competition, a conference, and this special section of JMR. Because Dick passed away before we could complete work on this special section, I would like to include his voice in motivating this special section by quoting from the research competition announcement that he helped craft:
Detection of Specific Binding to HER2 Receptors by in vivo Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging

In this study we have shown that in-vivo fluorescence lifetime imaging can be used for early detection of specific probe binding to HER2 receptors, providing information on HER2 overexpression.
Light Water Breeding with Nitride Fuel

Abstract This scoping study proposes using mixed nitride fuel in Pu-based high conversion LWR designs in order to increase the breeding ratio. The higher density fuel reduces the hydrogen-to-heavy metal ratio in the reactor which results in a harder spectrum in which breeding is more effective. A Resource-renewable Boiling Water Reactor (RBWR) assembly was modeled in MCNP to demonstrate this effect in a typical high conversion LWR design. It was determined that changing the fuel from (U,TRU)O 2 to (U,TRU)N in the assembly can increase its fissile inventory ratio (fissile Pu mass divided by initial fissile Pu mass) from 1.04 to up to 1.17.
The origin of low-K rhyolites from the mariana frontal arc

Low-K rhyolites and overlying 2-pyroxene andesites, both of Late Eocene age, comprise the oldest volcanic units exposed on Saipan. The mineralogy and geologic setting of these rocks indicate they were erupted in a volcanic arc setting. The presence of andesite and lack of basalts of similar age suggest that the rhyolites are not part of a typical bimodal (basalt/rhyolite) suite.
ARTICLE USAGE AND OTHER LANGUAGE SKILLS

Scores on a test of article usage are correlated with scores on the U.C.L.A. ESL Placement Examination in order to determine the extent to which article usage relates to other English skills. Comparisons of article usage scores are made among various groups of non-native speakers according to native language. Implications for the contrastive analysis hypothesis are explored. Results show that skill in article usage is closely related with overall proficiency. This is more true in the case where the learner's native language uses formal equivalents of the English articles. No conclusion can be drawn concerning the contrastive analysis hypothesis although positive transfer is demonstrated.
Treatment of spinal neoplasms using frameless stereotactic radiosurgery

Abstract Purpose of study: The use of stereotactic radiosurgery for the treatment of spinal lesions has been limited by the availability of effective target immobilization devices. Thi≈s study evaluated the feasibility of treating spinal neoplasms with a single-fraction radiosurgical technique using the CyberKnife Image-Guided Radiosurgery System. During treatment, a real-time image-guidance system tracks the patient's tumor. Information about tumor position is communicated to a robotic arm that aims the radiation-generating linear accelerator. Methods used: Nineteen consecutive patients with spinal neoplasms were treated. The location in the spine included 14 cervical, 2 thoracic and 3 lumbar. Fourteen lesions were metastatic, and five were primary. Cervical lesions were tracked relative to the skull; lower spinal lesions were tracked relative to percutaneously placed fiducial markers. Tumor volume ranged from 0.8 to 74.9 cc (mean, 17.1 cc). Fourteen lesions had received prior external beam irradiation. Dose plans were calculated based on computed tomography images acquired using 1- to 3-mm slices. Each plan was tested using a phantom to assure 1-mm accuracy. Tumor dose was maintained at 12 to 14 Gy to the 80% isodose line; spinal cord volume receiving greater than 8 Gy ranged from 0.0 to 1.4 cc (mean, .35 cc). of findings: All patients tolerated the procedure in an outpatient setting. No acute radiation toxicity or new neurological deficits occurred. One patient had a transient flare of neck pain. Axial and radicular pain improved in all patients who were symptomatic before treatment. Relationship between findings and existing knowledge: This study describes the largest series using a revolutionary therapeutic modality for the treatment of spinal neoplasms. Overall significance of findings: Spinal stereotactic radiosurgery using a frameless image-guided system was found to be safe and accurate. The major potential benefits of radiosurgical ablation of spinal neoplasms are short treatment time in an outpatient setting with rapid recovery time and good palliative effect. This device offers an alternative therapeutic modality for the treatment of metastatic lesions in medically inoperable patients, previously irradiated sites and for lesions not amenable to open surgical techniques or as an adjunct to surgery. Studies are currently underway to assess the efficacy of this novel treatment. Disclosures: Device or drug: CyberKnife Image-Guided Radiosurgery System. Status: approved. Conflict of interest: Peter C. Gerszten, speaker's bureau for Accuracy Inc. (Sunnyvale, CA.)
Fractal laser glints from the ocean surface

Time series of laser glint counts from the ocean surface exhibit fractal behavior. Glint-count histogram widths do not follow Gaussian statistics, and histogram shapes are approximately log normal. Fractal dimensions for the statistically self-similar glint-count time series are found from the power spectra, which have an inverse power-law form. Glint counts in one spatial dimension from a linearly scanning laser and glint counts in two spatial dimensions from a laser glint imager behave similarly. In both sets of data, spectral density peaks exist at frequencies corresponding to swell and long wind waves. This implies that the glint-count process contains information related to long-wave modulation of surface roughness.
Prehistoric cultivated cucurbits from the Viru Valley, Peru

A sample of 535 specimens of cucurbits were retrieved from archaeological deposits in the Viru Valley, Peru, from contexts dated between ca. 1800 B.C.– 1100 A.D. by Carbon-14 analysis and cultural associations. Cultivars ofCucurbita maxima Duch. and C.moschata (Duch.) Duch. ex Poir. are found to be restricted, respectively, to early and late chronological periods, with no overlap. Cultural and ecological factors are suggested to account for the observed temporal and spatial variations in species occurrence. Comparison of materials from other coastal valleys indicat es significant, but presently unexplainable, spatial and temporal differences in the distribution of these species. Supportive evidence for South America as an independent center of domestication for C.maxima tis offered.
A spindle-independent cleavage pathway controls germ cell formation in Drosophila

The primordial germ cells (PGCs) are the first cells to form during Drosophila melanogaster embryogenesis. Whereas the process of somatic cell formation has been studied in detail, the mechanics of PGC formation are poorly understood. Here, using four-dimensional multi-photon imaging combined with genetic and pharmacological manipulations, we find that PGC formation requires an anaphase spindle-independent cleavage pathway. In addition to using core regulators of cleavage, including the small GTPase RhoA (Drosophila rho1) and the Rho-associated kinase, ROCK (Drosophila drok), we show that this pathway requires Germ cell-less (GCL), a conserved BTB-domain protein not previously implicated in cleavage mechanics. This alternative form of cell formation suggests that organisms have evolved multiple molecular strategies for regulating the cytoskeleton during cleavage.
Light enhances the turnover of phosphatidylinositol in rat retinas.

: Light stimulation of isolated rat retinas is shown to enhance the turnover of phosphatidylinositol (PI) as demonstrated by a light-dependent increase in [3H]inositol incorporation and concurrent hydrolysis of existing PI. Studies with rat retinas incubated with [3H]inositol and then microdissected at the level of the outer plexiform layer into photoreceptor cell and inner retina layers indicated that the light-enhanced incorporation of [3H]inositol was associated with the photoreceptor cell layer. The rate of PI hydrolysis in retinas prelabeled in vivo with [3H]inositol was higher in light than in dark incubations and was higher in the photoreceptor cell layer than within the inner retina. Within the photoreceptor cell layer, PI turnover involved 2%/min of the total PI contentin dark and 6–8%/min in light. In contrast to what has been reported for stimulus-enhanced turnover of PI in some tissues, this light-enhanced turnover of PI in the retina was not associated with detectable reductions in PI content. Parallel studies of sodium (22Na) uptake demonstrated that the photoreceptor cells remained functional during these incubations as they retained the capacity to restrict the entry of 22Na in light but not in dark.
IMPACT OF METHANOL VEHICLES ON OZONE AIR QUALITY

Abstract A single-cell trajectory model with an updated chemical mechanism has been used to evaluate the impact on ozone air quality of methanol fueled vehicle (MFV) substitution for conventional fueled vehicles (CFV) in 20 urban areas in the U.S. Recent measurement data for non-methane organic compound (NMOC) concentrations and NMOC NO x ratios for each of the areas was used. The sensitivity of peak 1-h O3 values to variations in many of the input parameters has been tested. The functional dependence of peak 1-h O3 on NMOC NO x , ratios shows that, for many cities, the maximum O3 levels occur near the median urban-center 6–9 a.m. NMOC NO x ratios. The results of the photochemical model computations, including several methanol-fuel substitution scenarios, have been used to derive relative reactivities of methanol and formaldehyde. Per-vehicle O3 reduction potentials for MFV have also been derived. The reduction potentials and calculated percentage O3 reductions for selected MFV market-penetrations have been used to estimate the impact of any MFV market-penetration or change in MFV emission factors. All substitution scenarios evaluated lead to projections of lower peak 1-h O3 levels. Even with significant replacement of CFV by MFV, the reduction of urban O3 levels appears to be modest. However, the reductions may be significant in comparison to other available O3-reduction options.