cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Luteinizing hormone, total estrogens and progesterone secretion during lactation and after weaning in sows.

Abstract Two experiments were conducted to determine changes in serum concentrations of LH, total free estrogens and progesterone before and after weaning in sows. Blood was collected either via indwelling anterior vena cava cannula or by venipuncture and serum hormones were measured by radioimmunoassay. In Exp. I, blood was collected at 15-min intervals for 4 hr on day 7 and day 21 postpartum from three sows on each day. In addition, individual samples were collected from 10 sows on days 4 and 14 postpartum and from 11 sows on days 1, 3 and 5 after weaning (day 23 postpartum). Serum LH ranged from .2 to .8 ng/ml during lactation and averaged 1.1 ± .7, 1.1 ± .7 and 2.7 ± .7 on days 1, 3 and 5 after weaning, respectively. Progesterone was low ( In Exp. II, blood was collected from seven sows at 12 to 24 hr intervals from 2 days before until 5 days after weaning (day 26 postpartum). Mean serum LH was .7 ± .1 ng/ml during 48 hr before weaning and remained unchanged after weaning until day 3 when LH increased to 6.1 ± .8 ng/ml. Serum LH concentrations then declined to 1.3 ± .8 and .9 ± .8 ng/ml on days 4 and 5 after weaning. Total estrogens averaged 31 ± 4 pg/ml during 48 hr prior to weaning and 32 ± 4, 43 ± 17, 28 ± 1, 30 ± 2, 16 ± 2 and 18 ± 2 on days 0 to 5 after weaning. Progesterone increased from 1.0 ± .3 ng/ml 24 hr before weaning to 3.0 ± .3 at weaning and then remained low ( Results from these two experiments indicate that in sows: (1) LH is suppressed during early lactation (day 7), gradually increases during late lactation (day 21) and then reaches peak concentrations after weaning near the onset of estrus, (2) estrogens increase between weaning and estrus and decline thereafter, and (3) progesterone rises transiently at weaning and then increases after estrus and ovulation.
Uncooled infrared sensing using graphene

Design, fabrication and development of quantum infrared detectors using graphene are discussed in this paper. By using graphene made from mechanical exfoliation as the sensing element, we observe strong electron-photon coupling effects on the devices. In the presences of two infrared sources with two different wavelengths (830 nm and 1064 nm), we show that the graphene-based devices generates photocurrents at room temperature. The photocurrents induced by electron-hole pair generation are measured on the exfoliated multilayer graphene in uncooled condition. In addition, we found that the photo-carrier generation of the multilayer graphene is higher than that of single-layer graphene and carbon nanotubes which have been studied extensively recently. These results suggest multilayer graphene is suitable for infrared sensing. Besides, a new method of classifying graphene using dielectrophoretic manipulation is presented. Graphene flakes exposed to a non-uniform electric field are expected to behave differently based on the difference in conductivity of graphene. We demonstrate the ability to select and manipulate graphene flakes between electrodes by using the dielectrophoretic manipulation. The infrared responses of the graphene after the different manipulation configuration are investigated. The present study offers a novel classification of graphene for developing high performance nano infrared sensors.
The dielectric constant of liquid helium

Abstract The dielectric constant of liquid helium has been measured between 1.4°K and 4.2°K under the saturated vapour pressure with a resolution of approximately one part per million. When compared with direct measurements of the density, the results show that the polarizability is essentially independent of temperature; if this is assumed to be exactly true, they can be used to determine the density-temperature curve and the coefficient of thermal expansion. The density passes through a maximum about 5 × 10 −3 ° K above the λ point. As the λ point is approached from either side, the expansion coefficient tends to logarithmically to minus infinity. This behavior is similar to that of the specific heat, and is consistent with various thermodynamic relations applicable to a second-order phase transition. The specific heat ratio γ and the isothermal compressibility κ T have also been calculated within 0.05°K of the λ point.
Management of civilian and military vascular trauma: lessons learned.

Management of vascular trauma has evolved tremendously since the turn of the 20 th century. The lessons from each major military conflict over the past 100 years have refined our understanding of how to care for soldiers and civilians with vascular injuries. The recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have likewise improved our strategy for treating victims of vascular trauma. Understanding the principles that guide management of vascular injuries will result in preservation of life and limb.
Drosophila CLASP is required for the incorporation of microtubule subunits into fluxing kinetochore fibres

The motion of a chromosome during mitosis is mediated by a bundle of microtubules, termed a kinetochore fibre (K-fibre), which connects the kinetochore of the chromosome to a spindle pole. Once formed, mature K-fibres maintain a steady state length because the continuous addition of microtubule subunits onto microtubule plus ends at the kinetochore is balanced by their removal at their minus ends within the pole. This condition is known as 'microtubule poleward flux'. Chromosome motion and changes in position are then driven by changes in K-fibre length, which in turn are controlled by changes in the rates at which microtubule subunits are added at the kinetochore and/or removed from the pole. A key to understanding the role of flux in mitosis is to identify the molecular factors that drive it. Here we use Drosophila melanogaster S2 cells expressing alpha-tubulin tagged with green fluorescent protein, RNA interference, laser microsurgery and photobleaching to show that the kinetochore protein MAST/Orbit - the single CLASP orthologue in Drosophila - is an essential component for microtubule subunit incorporation into fluxing K-fibres.
Organization of volcanic plumbing through magmatic lensing by magma chambers and volcanic loads

[1] The development of discrete volcanic centers reflects a focusing of magma ascending from the source region to the surface. We suggest that this organization occurs via mechanical interactions between magma chambers, volcanic edifices, and dikes and that the stresses generated by these features may localize crustal magma transport before the first eruption occurs. We develop a model for the focusing or “lensing” of rising dikes by magma chambers beneath a free surface, and we show that chambers strongly modulate dike focusing by volcanic edifices. We find that the combined mechanical effects of chambers, edifice loading, and dike propagation are strongly coupled. Chambers deeper than ∼20 km below the surface with magmatic overpressure in the range of 20–100 MPa should dominate dike focusing, while more shallow systems are affected by both edifice and chamber focusing.
Digital Petri dish for on-chip cell monitoring

We report a digital Petri dish platform for on-chip cell monitoring. We demonstrate the ability to image confluent cell cultures with 6 mm × 4 mm filed-of-view and ∼0.7 μm resolution by using the proposed platform.
TUMOR INDUCTION IN HYPOPHYSEAL GRAFTS IN RADIOTHYROIDECTOMIZED MICE; HYPOTHALAMICO-HYPOPHYSEAL RELATIONSHIPS.

Pituitary glands from intact or radiothyroidectomized mice were grafted beneath the kidney capsules of similar intact and radiothyroidectomized recipients in all 4 donorhost combinations in mice of both sexes and in castrated males. Tumors arose in high frequency in such grafts in intact and in thyroidectomized female LAF/sub 1/ mice irrespective of the pretreatment of the donors. Transplantation assays indicated that the tumors arising in such grafts were most probably not thyrotropic in nature, but rather were mammotropic, regardless of the treatment of the first host. In contrast, the tumors arising in the thyroidectomized host pituitaries in situ were typically thyrotropic in behavior. No tumors were found in subcapsular pituitary grafts in intact or gonadectomized C57B1/6 male mice, and a small mass (5.5 mg) of as yet unknown character was found at the graft site in but one of 18 thyroidectomized males. The pituitary glands in situ of all of the thyroidectomized males were, however, tumorous. It is tentatively concluded that immediate circulatory connection with the hypothalamus is important in, and probably essential to, the induction of dependent thyrotropic tumors. The possibility that the cells capable of thyrotropic tumor formation did not survive the transplantation seems much less likely. Themore » transformation of a normal thyrotropic cell into a dependent tumor cell thus appears to involve a change in the requirement for, or response to, hypothalamic factors. The role of hypophyseal irradiation in induction of thyrotropic pituitary tumors by radiothyroidectomy with I/sup 131/ was not further clarified. (auth)« less
Whole-Lung Lavage for Pulmonary Alveolar Proteinosis

Pulmonary alveolar proteinosis (PAP) is a disease characterized by the deposition of amorphous lipoproteinaceous material in the alveoli secondary to abnormal processing of surfactant by macrophages. Whole-lung lavage often is performed as the first line of treatment for this disease because it is a means to wash out the proteinaceous material from the alveoli and reestablish effective oxygenation and ventilation. Whole-lung lavage is a large-volume BAL that is performed mainly in the treatment of PAP. In brief, it involves the induction of general anesthesia followed by isolation of the two lungs with a double-lumen endotracheal tube and performance of single-lung ventilation while large-volume lavages are performed on the nonventilated lung. Warmed normal saline solution in 1-L aliquots (total volumes up to 20 L) is instilled into the lung, chest physiotherapy is performed, then the proteinaceous effluent is drained with the aid of postural positioning. The sequence of events is repeated until such time as the effluent, which is initially milky and opaque, becomes clear. This procedure results in significant clinical and radiographic improvement secondary to the washing out of the proteinaceous material from the alveoli. The whole-lung lavage video details all aspects of the procedure, including case selection, patient preparation and equipment, a step-by-step review of the procedure, and postoperative considerations.
Tissue-specific RNAi reveals that WT1 expression in nurse cells controls germ cell survival and spermatogenesis

Using a novel tissue-specific RNA interference (RNAi) approach that mimics the principle by which naturally occurring microRNAs (miRNA) are made, we demonstrate that the Wilms' tumor 1 (WT1) transcription factor has an essential role in spermatogenesis. Mice depleted of WT1 in Sertoli nurse cells suffered from increased germ cell apoptosis, loss of adherens junctions, disregulation of adherence junction-associated genes, and impaired fertility. These effects were recapitulated in transgenic mice expressing a dominant-negative form of WT1 in Sertoli cells, demonstrating the validity of our RNAi approach. Our results indicate that the tumor suppressor WT1 promotes Sertoli cell-germ cell signaling events driving spermatogenesis.
Examining the sensitivity of MM5–CMAQ predictions to explicit microphysics schemes and horizontal grid resolutions, Part I—Database, evaluation protocol, and precipitation predictions

Abstract Wet deposition of chemical species is one of the most difficult processes to simulate in three-dimensional (3-D) air quality models, due to the complex interplay among meteorology, cloud, and atmospheric chemistry. Different cloud microphysical treatments and horizontal grid resolutions in 3-D models can directly affect simulated clouds, precipitation, and wet deposition. In this study, the performance and sensitivity of the simulated precipitation, concentrations, and wet deposition to different explicit microphysics schemes and horizontal grid resolutions are evaluated for August and December 2002 for a domain centered over North Carolina (NC). Four explicit microphysics schemes in MM5 are examined: Reisner 1 (R1), Reisner 2 (R2), Dudhia (SI), and Hsie (WR). The precipitation evaluation indicates that monthly-average precipitation amounts are underpredicted by all schemes in both August and December at all sites except for the R1 August simulation that shows overpredictions at National Acid Deposition Program (NADP) sites. An increased sensitivity to microphysics schemes is found at locations in both the coastal plain and mountain regions in August and the mountain region in December. The differences in simulation results in August and December are mainly attributed to seasonal differences in dominant meteorological forcing (mesoscale vs. synoptic, respectively). Among the schemes tested, R2 and SI give the best overall performance in predicting precipitation for both months. These findings are applicable for NC and neighboring states with similar meteorological and emission characteristics.
Intravital Microscopy in BLT-Humanized Mice to Study Cellular Dynamics in HIV Infection

Humanized mouse models have, over the past few years, seen dramatic improvements, including the colonization of both lymphoid and nonlymphoid tissues with all major immune cell lineages, the development of T cells with human major histocompatibility complex restriction, and the ability to mount functional adaptive immune responses to human pathogens, as documented in some instances. This has greatly increased the range of questions related to the biology of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection that can be usefully addressed through experimental approaches utilizing small animal models. Among these approaches is in vivo imaging, and specifically multiphoton intravital microscopy (MP-IVM), which allows for the investigation of dynamic biological processes at cellular and subcellular resolution in the tissues of live animals. We have recently begun to use MP-IVM in lymph nodes of humanized mice in order to examine HIV infectious spread in vivo at the tissue and cellular level. Here, we provide a short perspective on the close link between the patterns of immune cell migration and the mechanisms of viral dissemination, and summarize the results of our initial studies.
Feeling Bored: A Parse Research Method Study with Older Adults

This purpose of this study was to enhance understanding of the living experience of feeling bored. Parse’s phenomenological-hermeneutic research method was used to answer the research question: What is the structure of the living experience of feeling bored? Participants were 10 older adults; half were living in a long-term care facility, and the other half were living in their own homes. Data were collected with dialogical engagement. The major finding of the study is the structure: Feeling bored is wearisome dullness surfacing with uplifting engagements while prevailing with fortitude amid the uninspiring. Feeling bored is discussed in relation to the principles of humanbecoming and in relation to how it can inform nursing research and practice.
Maternal mediation, stress inoculation, and the development of neuroendocrine stress resistance in primates

The stress inoculation hypothesis presupposes that brief intermittent stress exposure early in life induces the development of subsequent stress resistance in human and nonhuman primates. Rodent studies, however, suggest a role for maternal care rather than stress exposure per se (i.e., the maternal mediation hypothesis). To investigate these two hypotheses, we examined maternal care and the development of stress resistance after exposure to brief intermittent infant stress (IS), mother–infant stress (MIS), or no stress (NS) protocols administered to 30 monkeys between postnatal weeks 17 and 27. Unlike rodents, the IS condition did not permanently increase primate maternal care, nor did measures of total maternal care predict subsequent offspring hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal-axis responsivity. Although MIS infants received less maternal care than IS and NS infants, both IS and MIS monkeys developed subsequent stress resistance. These findings indicate that rearing differences in the development of stress resistance are more closely related to differences in prior stress exposure than to differences in maternal care. A second experiment confirmed this conclusion in a different cohort of 25 monkeys exposed as infants to high foraging-demand (HFD) or low foraging-demand (LFD) conditions. HFD infants exhibited intermittent elevations in cortisol levels and received less maternal care than LFD infants. In keeping with a key prediction of the stress inoculation hypothesis, HFD males responded to stress in adulthood with diminished hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal-axis activation compared with LFD males. Results from both experiments demonstrate that stress inoculation, rather than high levels of maternal care, promotes the development of primate stress resistance.
A Scalable Tridiagonal Solver for GPUs

We present the design and evaluation of a scalable tridiagonal solver targeted for GPU architectures. We observed that two distinct steps are required to solve a large tridiagonal system in parallel: 1) breaking down a problem into multiple sub problems each of which is independent of other, and 2) solving the sub problems using an efficient algorithm. We propose a hybrid method of tiled parallel cyclic reduction(tiled PCR) and thread-level parallel Thomas algorithm(p-Thomas). Algorithm transition from tiled PCR to p-Thomas is determined by input system size and hardware capability in order to achieve optimal performance. The proposed method is scalable as it can cope with various input system sizes by properly adjusting algorithmtrasition point. Our method on a NVidia GTX480 shows up to 8.3x and 49x speedups over multithreaded and sequential MKL implementations on a 3.33GHz Intel i7 975 in double precision, respectively.
Bernau’s Representation for Archimedean ℓ-groups

In the next four chapters we shall prove the four fundamental representation theorems for lattice-ordered groups, in increasing order of generality. Consequently, we shall begin with the representation of archimedean l-groups, as continuous almost finite real-valued functions on a topological space. It was Bernau [65b] who first stated and proved this theorem in the l-group context, but because of its analytic flavor it should not be surprising that this result was anticipated in work on partially ordered vector spaces, done by Amemiya [53], Nakano [N], Vulich [V] and Pinsker [49], and others.
Public orders and personal opinions: household strategies for hurricane risk assessment

This paper examines the relationship between household evacuation decisions and official emergency management practices in light of recent increases in the availability and diversity of hurricane-related information. While we focus on Hurricane Floyd in South Carolina, we incorporate findings of our longitudinal research effort covering the last four years and six post-1995 hurricane threats to the state. While only 64% of residents in the mandatory evacuation zone complied with the Hurricane Floyd evacuation order, over 80% agreed that calling an evacuation was an appropriate precautionary response given the uncertainties of the storm. Longitudinal surveys indicate that Horry County residents have developed a fairly robust strategy in making evacuation decisions. This ‘‘hurricane savvy’’ population depends more heavily on individuals’ assessments of risks than on official orders. Individual assessment practices differ from official orders in that greater weight is given to household circumstances and preferences, the diligent monitoring of a variety of information sources, and the incorporation of past experiences into the decision-making process. Surveys indicate differences between the general public and officials in terms of priorities and preferences about hurricane evacuations. The public demands more information about the hurricane threat. Officials place more emphasis on planning evacuation routes and public safety measures. r 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
The stability of viscous flow between rotating cylinders in the presence of a magnetic field. II

The theory developed in an earlier paper (Chandrasekhar 1953) is extended to allow for counter-rotation of the two cylinders. Explicit results are given for the case when the two cylinders rotate in opposite directions with equal angular velocities.
Calcium responses of chicken trigeminal ganglion neurons to methyl anthranilate and capsaicin

Using digital fluorescence imaging, we determined the effects of methyl anthranilate (MA), an avian irritant, and capsaicin (CAP), a mammalian irritant, on intracellular calcium ([Ca(2+)](i)) in chicken trigeminal neurons. Concentration-response functions indicated that the threshold for inducing increases in [Ca(2+)](i) was higher for CAP (30 micromol l(-1)) than for MA (10 micromol l(-1)). The maximum magnitudes of [Ca(2+)](i) in response to MA and CAP were compared after normalization to 40 mmol l(-1) KCl. At equal concentrations (300 micro mol l(-1)), trigeminal neurons responded with a greater change in [Ca(2+)](i) to MA (78% of KCl) than to CAP (43% of KCl). Furthermore, at 300 micromol l(-1), 48% of neurons responded to MA whereas only 16% responded to CAP. The increases in [Ca(2+)](i) induced by both MA and CAP were dependent upon extracellular calcium. While the calcium responses to MA were also dependent on extracellular sodium, responses to CAP were not. There were separate but overlapping populations of neurons sensitive to MA and CAP. Taken together, the higher threshold concentration of CAP, the higher response magnitude to MA than CAP and the greater number of neurons sensitive to MA than CAP provide a rationale for the observed behavioral differences of birds to these two compounds. Finally, the findings that the calcium responses to MA and CAP have different ion dependencies and that there are separate populations sensitive to these compounds suggest different transduction mechanisms mediating chicken trigeminal responses to MA and CAP.
Team Collaboration: A Case Study of an Early Intervention Team

The study described in this article sought to examine the workings of an interdisciplinary team as a research entity and as a service provider. There were two levels of analysis in the study: the process of collaborating on the research and the results of the research observation of an interdisciplinary team in a clinical setting. An interdisciplinary research team studied the interaction of a single clinical team over a 6-month period working with one child in a hospital-based early intervention program. The data were collected through intensive interviews, direct observations of the family and team members, and selected videotaping of team meetings. Qualitative data analysis methods were used, and five themes emerged: who takes the lead, the classroom as a way station, we like our freedom but..., who is giving and who is taking advice, and communication comes in few forms.
Acute Renal Failure in Hospitalized Patients: Part II

BACKGROUND:Acute renal failure (ARF) is a common condition in hospitalized patients. Research has been unable to identify the optimal target for therapeutic intervention; hence, effective prevention of and/or treatment for ARF remain elusive.OBJECTIVE:To examine the usefulness of current and potential pharmacologic treatments in seriously ill, hospitalized patients.DATA SOURCES:A MEDLINE search (1996–June 2002) was conducted using the search terms kidney (drug effects) and acute kidney failure (drug therapy). Bibliographies of selected articles were also examined to include all relevant investigations.STUDY SELECTION AND DATA EXTRACTION:Review articles, meta-analyses, and clinical trials describing prevention of and treatment for hospital-acquired ARF were identified. Results from prospective, controlled trials were given priority when available.CONCLUSIONS:Appropriate management of ARF includes prospective identification of at-risk patients, fluid administration, and optimal hemodynamic support. Drug tre...
Delta Levinson and Schur-type RLS algorithms for adaptive signal processing

In this paper, we develop delta operator based Levinson and Schur type on-line RLS algorithms. Such algorithms have the potential of improved numerical behavior for ill-conditioned input data. These new algorithms are obtained by a unified transformation on the existing q operator based ones. We first show that the conventional lattice structure can be naturally derived when the backward delta operator is used. With this operator, Levinson and Schur algorithms for the stationary stochastic model in q-domain can easily be transformed into the delta domain. Then, same transformation, will be applied to the q-domain on-line Levinson and Schur type RLS algorithms to obtain the delta-domain counterparts. Their normalized versions as well as a systolic array architecture implementing the new delta Schur RLS algorithm are proposed. Extension to the equal length multichannel case is also given. Computer simulations show the expected numerical advantages of the delta-based algorithms for fast-sampled data in real time, over the q-domain ones under finite precision implementation. >
Biomolecular Dynamics: Order-Disorder Transitions and Energy Landscapes

While the energy landscape theory of protein folding is now a widely accepted view for understanding how relatively weak molecular interactions lead to rapid and cooperative protein folding, such a framework must be extended to describe the large-scale functional motions observed in molecular machines. In this review, we discuss (1) the development of the energy landscape theory of biomolecular folding, (2) recent advances toward establishing a consistent understanding of folding and function and (3) emerging themes in the functional motions of enzymes, biomolecular motors and other biomolecular machines. Recent theoretical, computational and experimental lines of investigation have provided a very dynamic picture of biomolecular motion. In contrast to earlier ideas, where molecular machines were thought to function similarly to macroscopic machines, with rigid components that move along a few degrees of freedom in a deterministic fashion, biomolecular complexes are only marginally stable. Since the stabilizing contribution of each atomic interaction is on the order of the thermal fluctuations in solution, the rigid body description of molecular function must be revisited. An emerging theme is that functional motions encompass order‐disorder transitions and structural flexibility provides significant contributions to the free energy. In this review, we describe the biological importance of order‐disorder transitions and discuss the statistical‐mechanical foundation of theoretical approaches that can characterize such transitions.
Tunable randomization for load management in shared-disk clusters

We develop and evaluate a system for load management in shared-disk file systems built on clusters of heterogeneous computers. It balances workload by moving file sets among cluster server nodes. It responds to changing server resources that arise from failure and recovery, and dynamically adding or removing servers. It also realizes performance consistency---nearly uniform performance across all servers. The system is adaptive and self-tuning. It operates without any a priori knowledge of workload properties, or the capabilities of the servers. Rather, it continuously tunes load placement using a technique called adaptive, nonuniform (ANU) randomization. ANU randomization realizes the scalability and metadata reduction benefits of hash-based, randomized placement techniques, while avoiding hashing's drawbacks: load skew, inability to cope with heterogeneity, and lack of tunability. ANU randomization outperforms virtual-processor approaches to load balancing, while reducing the amount of shared state among servers and the amount of load movement.
Children’s Scales of Pleasure and Arousal

This article introduces the Children’s Scales of Pleasure and Arousal as instruments to enable children to provide judgments of emotions they witness or experience along the major dimensions of affect. In two studies (Study 1: N = 160, 3–11 years and adults; Study 2: N = 280, 3–5 years and adults), participants used the scales to indicate the levels of pleasure or arousal they perceived in stylized drawings of facial expressions, in photographs of facial expressions, or in emotion labels. All age groups used the Pleasure Scale reliably and accurately with all three types of stimuli. All used the Arousal Scale with stylized faces and with facial expressions, but only 5-year-olds did so for emotion labels.
An American Opinion of the European Adaptation of the B.S./M.S. Degrees

A major impediment to articulation of U.S. and European degree programs has been the incompatibility of the European Diplom/Doctorscheme and the U.S. BS/MS/PhD scheme. The introduction of the bachelors/masters structure in European institutions promises to open the opportunity for U.S. B.S. graduates to travel to Europe for masters level studies, and it also suggests the possibility to develop true international engineering programs involving close articulation and possibly dual degrees. The growing introduction of English language instruction (primarily at the master’s level) in Europe also removes a significant barrier for US engineering students. However, there remain real differences in the functioning and format of the European BS/MS degrees versus the BS/MS structure in the US.
Light-Driven Ca2+ Ion Pump: How Does It Work?

Work done by Bennett et al. [Nature 2002, 420, 398−401] demonstrated that Ca2+ ions can be actively transported through a lipid bilayer membrane by an artificial photosynthetic machine. However, details of the pump process, such as the oxidation state of the shuttle molecule and stoichiometry of the shuttle-ion complex, are not fully understood, which hinders the development of ion pumps of this type with higher efficiency. In this study, we combine all atom molecular dynamics simulations and quantum mechanics calculations to estimate the time scale of the shuttle-ion complex diffusion process and charge transfer step. We find that the process of shuttle-ion complex diffusion across the lipid bilayer membrane is the rate-limiting step, with a time scale of seconds to minutes. Other processes such as charge transfer between the redox reaction center and the shuttle molecule have picoseconds time scales. We also show that a shuttle-ion complex with 2:1 stoichiometry ratio has a lower energy barrier across t...
The Impact of Patent Activities on Stock Dynamics in the High-Tech Sector

Patent data has been used for generating patent-based indicators for tracking the technology development of high-tech companies. In this paper, we further show the promises of exploiting patent data for the analysis and prospecting of high-tech companies in the stock market. Specifically, we aim at investigating the relationship between the patent activities of high-tech companies and the dynamics of their stock price movement. While stock forecasting is a topic of general interest and has been studied extensively in the literature, the most popular forecasting models do not facilitate the discovery of the patent-activity impact all essential characteristics of the market performance of a given stock. To this end, we propose a new approach to analyze the relationships between patent activities and the statistical characteristics of stock prices. To the best of our knowledge, we are the first to propose a model of this nature, relating patent data mining and financial modeling. Also, we demonstrate the relationships of the market-adjusted stock returns and the number of patent applications as well as the diversity of the corresponding patent categories. Moreover, we establish relationships between the monthly drift and volatility of the market-adjusted stock returns and those patent activity indicators. Here, we exploit a widely accepted diffusion model of the stock returns and estimate its parameters. By adopting the moving window technique, we create fitted models by introducing various lagged terms of patent activity characteristics. For each company, we consider the coefficients of each significant term over the entire time horizon and perform further statistical testing on the overall significance of the corresponding indicator. The analysis has been performed on real-world stock trading data as well as patent data. The results confirm the significant impact of patent activity on stock movement and on its essential statistical characteristics of drift and volatility.
Dynamic Modeling of Torsional Impact and its Stiffness Measurement for Impact Wrench

Impact wrench is a popular hand tool whose mechanism is featured with impact characterized by short time duration and large contact torque. The nonlinear impact problem has drawn researchers’ interests for a long time and the investigation is still undergoing. Fully and accurately modeling impact can facilitate the understanding and improving the performance of impact wrench. Under certain circumstance, not only coefficient of restitution is interested but also the whole impact process. Hence, discrete impact model cannot fulfil these requirements and dynamic modeling is indispensable. At the same time, sufficient knowledge about contact parameters such as contact stiffness is necessary for accurately impact modeling. But these parameters are usually not readily available. Moreover, researchers mainly focused on translational impact problem while rotational impact problem is ignored. In this paper, Hunt-Crossley nonlinear contact model is applied and extended in torsional impact dynamic modeling. Based on this model, an experimental method is developed to evaluate the distribution of inertias in lumped parameter models. Contact stiffness is measured based on spectrum results. To obtain reliable experimental data, impact wrench is driven by a servo motor to generate a controllable torque impulse. Contact stiffness is acquired under different impact speed. Results show the nonlinear relationship between contact stiffness and impact speed.Copyright © 2015 by ASME
Discontinuity in Earnings Report and Managerial Incentives

This paper provides a rational explanation for earnings discontinuity in the context of the agency model. A company manager often possesses private information about the project's expected return. This information is valuable to the firm because early warning that a project is unlikely to succeed allows the firm to fire the manager and to discontinue a project with an expected loss. When issuing a report, the manager can choose to engage in real earnings management and report higher-than-actual earnings for the current period, but as a result, the overall expected cash flow from the project will be undermined. The only way to extract the manager's private information is to offer him a generous severance payment as compensation for disclosing bad news. It is shown that any optimal contract induces overinvestment and earnings management. Furthermore, discontinuity in earnings reports arises endogenously under most circumstances. For a linear cost of misreporting, the paper presents the closed-form solution for the optimal contract and shows that the existence of an area of discontinuity in the earnings report depends negatively on the firm size and positively on the cost of managerial effort. These results are in line with empirical studies on discontinuity in earnings and executive severance agreements.
Non-adaptive phenotypic plasticity: the effects of terrestrial and aquatic herbicides on larval salamander morphology and swim speed

Phenotypic plasticity, although ubiquitous, may not always be advantageous. Non-adaptive plasticity is likely to occur in response to novel environmental stress. Anthropogenic contaminants, such as herbicides, are novel stressors that are not present in the evolutionary history of most species. We investigated the pattern and consequences of phenotypic plasticity induced by four glyphosate-based herbicides (two terrestrial and two aquatic) in larvae of the spotted salamander, Ambystoma maculatum, by determining (1) whether the herbicides induced different morphologies; (2) if different morphologies translated to differences in burst swim performance; and (3) how induced individuals performed relative to non-induced controls. Different herbicide formulations led to the production of significantly different head and tail morphologies, and tail morphology correlated with fastest escape speed. However, escape speed did not vary among treatments. In addition, three out of four herbicide treatments experienced accelerated growth rates, in terms of the lateral size of tails, although the tail shapes were either similar to preliminary controls or intermediate between preliminary and final controls. These observations suggest that herbicide-induced morphology is a case of non-adaptive phenotypic plasticity, and that there is potentially a trade-off between growth and development for larvae exposed to different formulations. Understanding the functional significance of induced phenotypes is important for determining their importance in shaping an organism's ecological interactions and evolutionary trajectories. Furthermore, under different conditions, the morphological changes that we observed in response to exposure to herbicides might affect salamander fitness and influence population dynamics.
Crown ether complexes of uranyl, neptunyl, and plutonyl: hydration differentiates inclusion versus outer coordination.

The structures of actinyl–crown ether complexes are key to their extraction behavior in actinide partitioning. Only UO2(18C6)2+ and NpO2(18C6)+ (18C6 = 18-Crown-6) have been structurally characteri...
Scientific information and uncertainty: challenges for the use of science in policymaking.

Science can reinforce the healthy aspects of the politics of the policy process, to identify and further the public interest by discrediting policy options serving only special interests and helping to select among “science-confident” and “hedging” options. To do so, scientists must learn how to manage and communicate the degree of uncertainty in scientific understanding and prediction, lest uncertainty be manipulated to discredit science or to justify inaction. For natural resource and environmental policy, the institutional interests of government agencies, as well as private interests, pose challenges of suppression, over-simplification, or distortion of scientific information. Scientists can combat these maneuvers, but must also look inward to ensure that their own special interests do not undermine the usefulness of science.
HIV Capsid Assembly, Mechanism, and Structure.

The HIV genome materials are encaged by a proteinaceous shell called the capsid, constructed from ∼1000–1500 copies of the capsid proteins. Because its stability and integrity are critical to the normal life cycle and infectivity of the virus, the HIV capsid is a promising antiviral drug target. In this paper, we review the studies shaping our understanding of the structure and dynamics of the capsid proteins and various forms of their assemblies, as well as the assembly mechanism.
Potential Canals for Control of Nonlinear Stochastic Systems in the Absence of State Measurements

This paper considers design of an open-loop control to direct the state of a nonlinear stochastic system from a random initial state toward a targeted stable equilibrium generated by a predefined constant control. Under this constant control, the system is assumed to have multiple stable equilibria, so that starting from a random initial state, the system can settle eventually at any of these equilibria, not necessarily the targeted one. To direct the system toward the targeted equilibrium, an initial phase of dynamic (time-varying) control is needed before application of the constant control. The concept of potential canal is introduced in this paper to develop a methodology for design of such dynamic control. This methodology is primarily intended to be used in directed self-assembly—a technology for ordering charged nanoparticles into desired nanostructures by manipulating external electrical fields. The features of the developed control are demonstrated for directed self-assembly in one dimension.
MODES OF ACTION OF PHYTOTOXINS FROM PLANTS

Relatively little is known of the mode of action of natural phytotoxins, when compared to our understanding of the mode of action of synthetic herbicides (Devine et al. 1993; Fedtke and Duke, 2005). Furthermore, most of the scientific literature on mode of action of natural phytotoxins focuses on compounds from microbial origins. Relatively little effort has been made to study the mode of action of plant-produced phytotoxins, including allelochemicals involved in plant/plant interactions.
Research on Operation Modes of Dynamic Voltage Restorer in Microgrid

In allusion to dissatisfied voltage quality of microgrid,a dynamic voltage restorer(DVR) based on photovoltaic(PV) generation/battery units is proposed.Utilizing PV generation/battery units as energy storage component and via rectifier,the proposed DVR is connected in series with the point of common coupling(PCC),where the microgrid low-voltage is connected to distribution network.Three operating modes of DVR,namely the dynamic voltage restoration mode,the uninterruptible power supply mode and the micro-source mode,are put forward.Through reasonably control strategy,the switching-over among the three operation modes can be effectively implemented to improve the utilization rate of DVR.The dynamic voltage restoration mode of DVR can suppress voltage sag and voltage swell effectively,thus the voltage quality is improved;the uninterruptible power supply mode can improve the reliability of power supply;using the micro-source mode,the power supply from power grid can be reduced and it is favorable for energy conservation and emission reduction.The effectiveness of the proposed DVR is verified by results of simulation based on Matlab /Simulink.
Strategies for prevention of ultrasound-guided prostate biopsy infections

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in male patients and the second leading cause of cancer-related mortality in males. To confirm the diagnosis of prostate cancer, an ultrasound-guided needle biopsy is necessary to obtain prostate tissue sufficient for histologic analysis by pathologists. Ultrasound-guided prostate needle biopsy can be accomplished via a transperineal or transrectal approach. The latter biopsy technique involves placing an ultrasound probe into the rectum, visualizing the prostate located just anterior to it, and then obtaining 12-14 biopsies. Each biopsy core requires piercing of the rectal mucosa which can inherently contribute to infection. The increasing infectious risk of prostate needle biopsy requires refinement and re-evaluation of the process in which the technique is performed. Such processes include (but are not limited to) prebiopsy risk stratification, antibiotic prophylaxis, use of rectal preparations, and equipment processing. In the subsequent review, we highlight the current available information on different strategies to reduce the risk of infection following prostate needle biopsy.
Intramuscular MAPK signaling following high volume and high intensity resistance exercise protocols in trained men

To examine the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) family of signaling proteins following typical high volume (HV) and high intensity (HI) lower body resistance exercise protocols in resistance-trained men. Ten resistance-trained men (24.7 ± 3.4 year; 90.1 ± 11.3 kg; 176.0 ± 4.9 cm) performed each resistance exercise protocol in a random, counterbalanced order. The HV protocol utilized a load of 70 % 1-RM for sets of 10–12 repetitions with a 1-min rest period length between sets and exercises. The HI protocol utilized a load of 90 % 1-RM for sets of 3–5 repetitions with a 3-min rest period length between sets and exercises. Both protocols included six sets of barbell back squats and four sets of bilateral leg press, bilateral hamstring curls, bilateral leg extensions, and seated calf raises. Fine needle muscle biopsies of the vastus lateralis were completed at baseline (BL) and 1-h post exercise (1H). No significant differences over time were noted for phosphorylation of MEK1, ERK1/2, p38, MSK1, ATF2, p53, or c-Jun (p > 0.05). No significance between trial interactions was noted for phosphorylation of MAPK signaling proteins, including MEK1, ERK1/2, p38, JNK, MSK1, ATF2, STAT1, p53, c-Jun, or HSP27 (p > 0.05). However, significant time effects were observed for phosphorylation of JNK (p < 0.01), HSP27 (p < 0.01), and STAT1 (p = 0.03). Phosphorylation of JNK, HSP27, and STAT1 was significantly elevated from BL at 1H for both HV and HI. HV and HI lower body resistance exercise protocols appear to elicit similar MAPK activation in resistance-trained men.
Patient Identification Errors and HIT: Friend or Foe?

Strategies are explored to reduce patient identification errors, with an explicit focus on the interface between staff and health information technology (HIT), including the electronic medical record (EMR). Three proximate causes of HIT-related patient identification errors are profiled including analysis and strategies to address each of these safety risks. Strategies include an interruption in the ordering sequence that requires verification of the patient’s identity, personal error prevention practices, and medication bar code scanning. Case studies demonstrate the power of technology to impact care delivery in both positive and negative ways.
Assessing Experiment Designs

Graphical tools exploit the creative power of the right brain for design creation and as we will see in Chapter 6 for analysis of the results of the experiment. But designs created graphically are understood only in qualitative ways. Also the graphical approach to design has a risk of inadvertently confounding important terms. This chapter reviews mathematical checks of the quality of an experiment design and shows ways to present these assessments graphically. Graphical methods are important because the mathematical characterization of an experiment design is typically a matrix or table of values with one row and column for each coefficient in the statistical model that will be fit. These checks can and should be performed before the experiment is conducted so that changes can be made before wasting the resources required to conduct the experiment.
Development system for a haptic interface based on impedance/admittance control

There are two fundamental and dominant control methods widely used in haptic controller design. First, is impedance control when user motion input is measured and the reaction force is fed back to user. The alternative method is admittance control, when forces exerted by user are measured and positions are fed back to user. Both, impedance and admittance control are also fundamental ways for interacting with a virtual environment. In This work, impedance control is investigated experimentally from the viewpoint of suitability for haptic interface development. The difference between conventional application of impedance control in robot motion control and its application in haptic interface development is investigated. Open loop impedance control methodology is implemented for static case and a general-purpose robot under open loop impedance control was developed as a haptic device, while a closed loop model based impedance control was used for haptic controller design in both static and dynamic case. The factors that could affect to the performance of a haptic interface are also investigated experimentally using parametric studies. The investigation is carried out on a HIL experimental setup and is verified that the HIL experimental set up can be used as a generic platform for the development and for testing haptic interface options before prototypes are built. Experimental results for 1 DOF rotational motion and 2 DOF planar translational motion systems are presented.