cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Nanostructured Garnet-type Li7La3Zr2O12: Synthesis, Properties, and Opportunities as Electrolytes for Li-ion Batteries

Abstract The garnet-type Li+ ion conductor Li7La3Zr2O12 (LLZO) is a promising candidate as a solid electrolyte for all-solid-state Li-ion batteries. Significant progress towards understanding the structure and properties of LLZO, conventionally synthesized using solid state reaction methods, has already been made in the last decade. The aim of this review is to summarize recent efforts on the synthesis of nanostructured LLZO, with a focus on electrospinning, cellulose templating, and low-temperature (
Influence of low-molecular-weight glutenin subunit haplotypes on dough rheology in elite common wheat varieties.

The low-molecular-weight glutenin subunits (LMW-GSs) are a class of wheat seed storage proteins encoded by a multigene family located at the Glu-3 loci that influences wheat end-use quality. Owing to ambiguities in the LMW-GS allele nomenclature and to the complexity of the Glu-3 loci organization, a clear relationship between LMW-GS alleles and wheat end-use quality has not been adequately determined. In the present study, four sets of elite common wheat varieties were analyzed for their LMW-GS genic profile, along with their dough rheology and end-product baking properties. Among these varieties, variation at the Glu-A3 locus had a major impact on the analyzed dough rheology parameters, followed by the Glu-B3 and Glu-D3 loci. Also, the genes located at the linkage groups Glu-A3-3, Glu-B3-3, and Glu-D3-5 were more highly associated with dough strength, mixing, and extensibility properties. Results obtained in this study clearly indicate that there are specific LMW-GS haplotypes that are more highly assoc...
Spandrels, Exaptations, and Raw Material

STEPHEN JAY Gould and Richard Lewontin introduced the spandrel as a biological metaphor in a 1979 paper entitled “The spandrels of San Marco and the Panglossian Paradigm: a Critique of the Adaptationist Programme”. Architecturally, the curved triangular spaces, called pendentives, formed above and between two neighboring arches in a vaulted roof supported by four arches, are a type of spandrel (Fig. 15.1). Technically, a spandrel is a “space left over” between portions of an architectural structure, such as the vertical spaces between steps on a staircase or the “spandrel courses” on the sides of high-rise buildings, between the windows of one floor and the windows of the next (Fig. 15.2). As Gould explained after he had delved further into the architectural details, many architects use the term only to refer to two-dimensional spaces, while a continental European school does consider three-dimensional forms, like the San Marco pendentives to be spandrels (Gould 1997, 2002, p. 1250).
Therapy-Induced Plasticity in Chronic Aphasia Is Associated with Behavioral Improvement and Time Since Stroke.

Abstract Cortical reorganization after stroke is thought to underlie functional improvement. Patterns of reorganization may differ depending on the amount of time since the stroke or the degree of ...
COMPARISON OF PROSTATE SPECIFIC ANTIGEN AND PROSTATIC ACID PHOSPHATASE IN THE DETECTION OF PROSTATIC CANCER

ABSTRACT We did a comparative study of evaluating the diagnostic significance of prostate specific antigen (PSA) and prostatic acid phosphatase (PAP) in 118 untreated patients with confirmed histological diagnosis of prostate cancer (Pca) who were in various stages of malignancy. PSA and PAP were also measured in 138 controls which included 69 with benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPE). PSA, being the new tumor marker, was also measured in patients with cancers other than that of Pca to establish its tumor specificity. Out data indicate that PSA was better tumor marker with a high degree of sensitivity and was capable of identifying patients in various stages of disease. However, specificity of PSA i,e identifying patients without Pca, although fairly high in controls, was limited in patients with BPE.
Converting Be´zier triangles into rectangular patches

Publisher Summary Bezier triangles and rectangular Bezier patches are both commonly used for representing curved surfaces, but various software products often support only one or the other. This chapter describes a very simple way of converting triangular Bezier surface patches into rectangular ones. Two possible applications are: (1) ray-tracing triangular patches with a raytracer that supports only rectangular patches and (2) displaying triangular patches on graphics hardware that supports only rectangular patches. The chapter explains how to convert quadratic and cubic triangles into biquadratic and bicubic rectangular patches. The same principles can be used to derive a conversion for higher orders as well. The chapter also illustrates the parametric domain and the six control points defining a quadratic Bezier triangle and the parametric domain and the nine control points defining a biquadratic Bezier patch.
Highway Safety Manual Calibration: Assessing Alternate Definitions of the Calibration Factor:

The publication of the Highway Safety Manual (HSM) in 2010 established crash frequency prediction as the essential safety measure for safety studies. However, given that the models were developed u...
Testing the potential role of brine reflux in the formation of sedimentary exhalative (sedex) ore deposits

Abstract Sedimentary exhalative (sedex) ore deposits are the world’s largest Zn-Pb deposits. While the geologic processes that formed these deposits are generally well understood, the fundamental hydrologic processes that drove these massive hydrothermal systems remain an area of debate. We use numerical modeling to test an emerging hypothesis, supported by recent ore genesis research and sedex basin analysis, that brine reflux flow systems produced and drove the fluids that formed sedex deposits. A previous numerical model of brine reflux, developed to study dolomitization, is adapted to a sedimentary basin with geologic features essential for sedex formation. We simulate the flow of evaporated brines through the basin and the evolution of salinity, temperature, and flow rates, and find that modeled values for these parameters for brines discharging to the seafloor exceed previously established physiochemical thresholds for ore formation (>170 g/L, >80 °C, and total discharge volumes >107 m3 per meter perpendicular to the 2D model section). Sensitivity testing of this modest-sized basin highlights the large effect that aspects of the hydrogeologic framework can have on mineralizing potential of the reflux brines. Finally, modeling alternating periods of active and inactive evaporation produces pulsed brine reflux systems capable of producing multiple deposits of different age as observed in many sedex basins. The modeling thus supports the hypothesis that seawater evaporation on the basin margin significantly inboard of sedex deposits may be responsible for their formation. Sensitivity testing suggests that numerical models with more detailed, basin-specific geologic frameworks might be useful for assessing the mineral potential of sedimentary basins.
A Historical Overview of Diabetic Nephropathy

Excessive urine output is one of the oldest diseases to be recognized that was dubbed diabetes in the first century B.C. Its clinical features and fatal outcome were described by the second century A.D., when it was attributed to a weakness in the retentive faculties of the kidney by Galen (129–200). Thus, it came to be considered a disease of the kidneys well into the nineteenth century. The sweet taste of diabetic urine was described by most ancient authors but attributed to the non-specific passage of absorbed water and nutrients, alongside with sweet ones, into the urine. In 1674, Thomas Willis (1621–1675) was the first to argue that the sweetness of the urine was specific to the disease and likely due to a sweetness of the blood. It would be another century before Matthew Dobson (1673–1784) documented in 1776 the hypothesis of Willis showing that the sweetness of the urine was preceded by an increase in the sweetness of the blood, while his collaborator William Cullen (1710–1780) termed the disease diabetes mellitus to differentiate it from the insipid tasting urine he had observed in some polyuric cases. The experimental production of diabetes mellitus in pancreatectomized dogs by Oskar Minkowski (1858–1931) and Josef von Mering (1849–1908) in 1889 and the subsequent isolation of insulin from the pancreas by Frederick Banting (1891–1941) and Charles Best (1899–1078) in 1922 established diabetes as an endocrine disorder. The stage of diabetes as a kidney disease was now over, but that of diabetes as a cause of kidney disease was yet to come. Diabetes as a cause of end-stage kidney disease was first documented by Paul Kimmelstiel (1900–1970) and Clifford Wilson (1906–1997) in 1936 and extensively studied shortly thereafter. The availability of kidney biopsy and refinements in the quantification of albuminuria were instrumental in defining the course and prevalence of what was then termed diabetic nephropathy. The increased prevalence of obesity and of improved longevity over the past few decades account for the current ravaging worldwide epidemic of diabetic kidney disease.
Rational Design of Cell-Active Inhibitors of PARP10

Poly-ADP-ribose polymerases (PARPs 1-16) have emerged as major regulators of diverse cellular processes. PARPs can be subclassified based on their ability to catalyze poly-ADP-ribosylation (PARylation) or mono-ADP-ribosylation (MARylation). While much is known about the cellular roles of PARPs that catalyze PARylation (e.g., PARP1), the function of PARPs that catalyze MARylation (e.g., PARP10) is substantially less understood. This is due in large part to the lack of small-molecule inhibitors that are selective for individual PARP family members that catalyze MARylation. Herein, we describe the rational design and synthesis of selective inhibitors of PARP10. Using structure-based design, we targeted a hydrophobic subpocket within the nicotinamide-binding site of PARP10. We synthesized a series of small molecules based on a 3,4-dihydroisoquinolin-1(2H)-one (dq, 1) scaffold that contain various substituents at the C-5 and C-6 positions designed to exploit this hydrophobic subpocket. We found a dq analogue (22) that contains a methyl group at the C-5 position and a substituted pyridine at the C-6 position that exhibits >10-fold selectivity for PARP10 over a large subset of other PARP family members. The results of this study will serve as a platform for future small-molecule probe development for PARP10 and other PARP family members that catalyze MARylation.
Serum Citrulline Levels Exhibit Circadian Variation and Fluctuations in Relation to Food Intake in Mice.

Background Plasma citrulline is a nonessential amino acid synthesized almost exclusively by enterocytes of the small intestine. Correlation between post-operative plasma citrulline levels and remnant small bowel mass and function has led to its use as a simple biomarker of functional intestinal mass in adults and children, with a proposed prognostic value for achieving enteral autonomy in the setting of intestinal failure. While it is standard to measure fasting levels in humans, the optimal timing of blood draws in relation to food intake and time of day has not been standardized and is poorly studied in animal models. We hypothesize that serum citrulline levels vary both throughout the day and with relation to food intake in mice. Methods Serum citrulline levels were measured from 12 C57BL/6 mice (6 - 9 weeks old) in the mornings and evenings, either after ad libitum food intake or after 8 - 12 h of access to water only. Blood draws for each experimental set-up were performed 1 week apart according to our Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) guidelines for acceptable blood collection volumes for survival procedures. At the end of the experiment, mice were euthanized and small intestine was harvested for morphometric measurements. Group means were compared using Student's t-test with significance assumed for P Results After withholding chow for 8 - 12 h, serum citrulline levels were significantly greater in the morning compared to levels drawn in the evening. When mice were allowed ad libitum chow, there was no significant difference in serum citrulline levels drawn in the morning compared to the evening. There was no difference detected in villus height across the different experimental conditions. Conclusions Serum citrulline levels exhibit circadian variation and fluctuations in relation to food intake in mice, without apparent concurrent changes in enterocyte mass. There was no diurnal variation of serum citrulline levels in fed mice whereas fasted mice had significantly higher levels of serum citrulline in the morning compared to the evening. These findings underscore the paramount importance of consistent sample collection strategies in the setting of translational research.
1429-P: A Review of Prepregnancy Care and Pregnancy Outcomes in Pregestational Diabetes—Are Prior Improvements in Pregnancy Preparation and Outcomes Maintained for Women with Pregestational Diabetes?

Women with pre-existing diabetes (T1DM/T2DM) face increased risk in pregnancy. Optimising glycaemic control, folic acid use and smoking cessation are all advised to improve outcomes. Maintaining these goals can be difficult. We retrospectively analysed data from sites across our Atlantic DIP network from 2015-17 and compared outcomes to data 2010-14 to see if prior improvements were maintained. Data was collected on pre-pregnancy care (PPC), glycaemic targets and neonatal outcomes. In total 98 women attended; 76 (78%)/22 (22%) with T1DM and T2DM respectively. Booking maternal BMI reduced but a fall in PPC attendance lead to lower folic acid use, greater teratogenic medication use and static smoking rates. Trimester 1 HbA1C was suboptimal in T1DM but patients subsequently reached target. HbA1C improved throughout pregnancy for T2DM and was at target (Table 1). Between the two time periods outcomes were unchanged for miscarriage, shoulder dystocia, NICU admission, macrosomia, LGA, SGA and birth weight. We recorded no stillbirths or congenital malformations. Improvements occurred in prematurity ( It is reassuring to record maintenance/improvement in neonatal outcomes but ongoing education on the importance of PPC and novel ways to reach patients are required. Disclosure C. Newman: Speaker9s Bureau; Self; Sanofi. L. Carmody: None. A.M. Egan: None. L.A. Owens: None. F. Dunne: None.
Students with disabilities attending full-day versus part-day kindergarten: Short- and long-term effects on achievement

Abstract We examined a national dataset of kindergarteners with disabilities and inquired into whether attending full- versus part-day kindergarten predicted short- and long-term differences in reading and math achievement. Implementing fixed effects and propensity score matching using the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study: Kindergarten Class of 2011 (ECLS-K: 2011), we found that students with disabilities (SWDs) in full-day kindergarten (FDK) had higher reading and math scores at the end of kindergarten. However, this effect disappeared completely by the end of first grade for all SWDs. There were no differences by disability category. In the continued expansion of FDK programs, policymakers and parents ought to consider that SWDs have similar patterns of achievement gains in kindergarten to their peers without disabilities (as shown in prior research), and though these gains may diminish in later grades, it may support the trajectory of students who tend to have additional needs at school-entry.
Aquatic landscape change, extirpations, and introductions in the Chicago Region

Prior to European settlement, swamps, marshes, lakes, and streams were the major landscape features of the Chicago region. Much of this has been altered or lost in the past one-hundred-and-fifty years. We examined the changes in aquatic environments and fauna in Cook County, Illinois, using 1890–1910 and 1997–2017 as our focus intervals. The extents of aquatic features from historical topographic maps were imported into a GIS database and compared with the modern USGS National Hydrography Dataset. Historical and modern spatial data on aquatic animals were collected from museum collection and survey reports. Overall, the total area of wetlands and water bodies has decreased by about a third, while swamps and marshes have been drained or converted into lakes and ponds. Fifty-four of 80 historic molluscan species are not recently recorded, and 26 current species are not recorded in the historical data, including 6 considered to be invasive. Of 54 fish species in the historic data, 23 are no longer present and about 50% of the remaining species have undergone range reductions. Three out of 10 species of reptiles have disappeared. All 25 aquatic birds reported from the 1890–1910 period are still extant and an additional 13 have been reported in recent times, possibly due to increased collection effort. The Chicago region provides a case study of the impact of anthropogenic landscape change on biota. Large scale extirpations of native species have corresponded to a shift to a highly fragmented landscape of small ponds and reduced swamps and marshes.
Long-term survival among 5-year survivors of adolescent and young adult cancer

BACKGROUND Although there are a growing number of survivors of adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer, to the authors' knowledge the long-term overall survival (OS) patterns for AYA cancer survivors are underreported. The objective of the current study was to assess the long-term survival of AYA cancer survivors and identify factors associated with diminished long-term survival. METHODS The authors used The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center's tumor registry to identify 5-year survivors of cancer diagnosed as AYAs (ages 15-39 years) between the years 1970 and 2005, and who were alive 5 years after diagnosis. Kaplan-Meier curves were used to estimate OS rates over time, and Cox proportional hazards models were fitted to evaluate the association of covariates with OS. RESULTS The authors identified 16,728 individuals who were 5-year survivors of cancer and were diagnosed as AYAs with a median follow-up of 20.0 years. The 10-year, 20-year, and 25-year OS rates were 86% (95% confidence interval [95% CI], 85%-86%), 74% (95% CI, 73%-75%), and 68% (95% CI, 67%-68%), respectively, all of which were lower than the age-adjusted estimated survival rates of the general population. Long-term OS improved for AYAs diagnosed between 2000 and 2005 compared with those diagnosed in the prior decades (P < .001). Older age at the time of diagnosis, receipt of radiation, and diagnoses including central nervous system tumors and breast cancer each were associated with diminished long-term survival. CONCLUSIONS AYA cancer survivors have inferior long-term survival compared with the general population. Studies investigating the prevalence and types of late treatment effects and causes of death among AYA survivors are needed to more accurately identify AYAs who are at highest risk of early or late mortality.
Does Reducing Drinking in Patients with Unhealthy Alcohol Use Improve Pain Interference, Use of Other Substances, and Psychiatric Symptoms?

BACKGROUND We aimed to investigate the impact of reducing drinking in patients with unhealthy alcohol use on improvement of chronic pain interference, substance use, and psychiatric symptoms. METHODS We analyzed longitudinal data from 2003 to 2015 in the Veterans Aging Cohort Study, a prospective, multisite observational study of US veterans, by emulating a hypothetical randomized trial (a target trial). Alcohol use was assessed using the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) questionnaire, and outcome conditions were assessed via validated survey items. Individuals were followed from the first time their AUDIT score was ≥ 8 (baseline), a threshold consistent with unhealthy alcohol use. We compared individuals who reduced drinking (AUDIT < 8) at the next follow-up visit with individuals who did not (AUDIT ≥ 8). We fit separate logistic regression models to estimate odds ratios for improvement of each condition 2 years postbaseline among individuals who had that condition at baseline: moderate or severe pain interference symptoms, tobacco smoking, cannabis use, cocaine use, depressive symptoms, and anxiety symptoms. Inverse probability weighting was used to account for potential selection bias and confounding. RESULTS Adjusted 2-year odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) for associations between reducing drinking and improvement or resolution of each condition were as follows: 1.49 (0.91, 2.42) for pain interference symptoms, 1.57 (0.93, 2.63) for tobacco smoking, 1.65 (0.92, 2.95) for cannabis use, 1.83 (1.03, 3.27) for cocaine use, 1.11 (0.64, 1.92) for depressive symptoms, and 1.33 (0.80, 2.22) for anxiety symptoms. CONCLUSIONS We found some evidence for improvement of pain interference symptoms and substance use after reducing drinking among US veterans with unhealthy alcohol use, but confidence intervals were wide.
Maintenance regimens after a second autologous transplant for multiple myeloma

Multiple myeloma (MM) is the second most common blood cancer and accounts for approximately two percent of all cancers [1]. Despite recent breakthroughs in the treatment of MM, the disease remains ...
Fatty Acid Profiles and Eicosanoid Biosynthesis in Transition Dairy Cows

The onset of lactation imposes considerable changes in dietary requirements and metabolic functions. These adaptations occur during the transition period (TP) that begins 3 wks before through 3 wk after parturition. This period is associated with an elevated incidence of diseases that cause a significant reduction in the profitability of dairy herds. Energy requirements of the TP dairy cow are unable to be met by the diet and must rely on tissue reserves. Mobilization of fat from tissues releases non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) into the blood stream which are used as energy; however, NEFA function is not limited to energy supply. These compounds can serve as substrates for the biosynthesis of inflammatory lipid mediators (LM). The two major enzymes for eicosanoid synthesis are cyclooxygenases (COX) and lipoxigenases (LOX). The increased activity of these enzymatic pathways could lead to an enhanced inflammatory response. Despite recent advances in TP dairy cow health, little is known about the relationship between variations in the plasma fatty acid (FA) profile and the production of LM through both COX and LOX biosynthetic pathways. We hypothesize that plasma FA profiles and expression of enzymes associated with eicosanoid biosynthesis shift during the transition period.
Subspace Processors for Physics‐Based Application

In this chapter, we develop a suite of case studies applying model‐based identification (MBID) techniques to extract models for processing using both subspace and parametrically adaptive schemes. We start with a complex mechanical (structural) system applying subspace techniques followed by the development of a physics‐based model for Kalman filtering in a scintillation system applying both identification approaches. Two MBID schemes using Bayesian particle filters (PF) are developed from the underlying phenomenology in order to identify/detect fission processes as well as modal functions propagating in a shallow ocean environment. Finally, we extract (estimate) chirp and frequency‐shift key (FSK) signals from noisy data using the parametrically adaptive, unscented Kalman filter (UKF) approach.
The Correlation Between the Quality of Airline Services and the Loyalty of the Users of Thailand Domestic Airlines

This research has the purpose of studying the correlation between the quality of airline services and the loyalty of the users of Thailand domestic airlines. The sample group consisted of users of domestic airline services, by stratified random sampling, using the airlines in stratification. 384 people in the sample group are from the Krejcie and Morgan chart. Tools used are questionnaires. Statistic are by means, pearson’s simple correlation moment product. From the study it is found that 1) The quality levels of Thailand domestic airline services are high 2) The levels of the loyalty of the users of domestic airline services are high and 3) The quality of airline services has an overall correlation with the loyalty of the users of airline services at a high level, with statistic significant at .01 and correlation coefficient at .720.
Investigation of Overcoming the Chu Lower Bound on Quality Factor for Antennas Tuned with Highly Dispersive Lossy Material

The quality factor of an antenna is a powerful quantity that usually provides a good sense of its bandwidth helping antenna designers to evaluate the overall performance. The fundamental relationships between impedance, bandwidth, and Q factor of antennas have always been one of the most important and exciting research topics benefitting both theoretical and applied electromagnetics [1] .
EFFECT OF HALOPERIDOL (HAL) AND PIMOZIDE (PIM) ON PAVLOVIAN CONDITIONING OF THE RABBIT NICTITATING MEMBRANE RESPONSE

ABSTRACT HAL (250 yg/kg) and PIM (300 yg/kg) produced a retarded acquisition of conditioned responses (CRs) to both a tone and light conditioned stimulus (CS). As a control for nonlearning factors, separate groups of HAL and vehicle injected rabbits received explicitly unpaired presentations of stimuli: tone alone; light alone; and the shock-unconditioned stimulus (UCS) alone. In the unpaired condition, the frequency of baserate responding or responding to the tone and light was low in the vehicle injected group (1-3%) and was not affected by HAL. HAL also did not affect the amplitude of the unconditioned response (UCR) elicited by the UCS. It was concluded that dopamine (DA) receptor blockade produces a retardation of learning.
SUPERCRITICAL WITHDRAWAL FROM TWO-LAYERED FLUID SYSTEMS

An analysis of the selective withdrawal features of a two-dimensional skimmer wall is developed based on the concept of a double critical flow section in the two-layered stratified fluid system. The theory predicts the withdrawal ratio as a function of two governing parameters, a densimetric Froude number and a layer depth ratio. The skimmer wall design condition of incipient withdrawal as derived by HARLEMAN and ELDER (1965) is included as a special case. Good qualitative agreement with available experimental data is found. An “effectiveness” diagram displaying the fully effective, partially effective and non-effective regimes of skimmer wall operation is developed.
Computer cursor control by motor cortical signals in humans with tetraplegia

A direct neural interface system (NIS) promises to provide communication and independence to persons with paralysis by harnessing intact motor cortical signals to enable controlling prosthetic devices. An intracortical NIS aims to achieve this by sensing extracellular neuronal signals through chronically implanted microelectrodes and by decoding the spiking activity of neurons into prosthetic control signals. In non-human primate studies, decoding has been performed by finding a relationship between neuronal signals and actual limb movements. However, such decoding approaches face challenges in the case of paralyzed persons where there is no true movement information. Specifically, we have focused on dealing with several key questions in decoding of neural activity in humans with paralysis: what movement parameters should be decoded?; which decoding algorithms lead to more accurate estimation of movement parameters?; how do we train decoding algorithms without observing actual movement parameters?; and how many control parameters can be decoded from a single neural ensemble? In this paper, we summarize our recent studies to address these questions to improve decoding performance, which enables a human with tetraplegia to drive a 2D computer cursor to an arbitrary position and execute a “click” on the area of interest.
Radio-Frequency Electronics: Class-C, D, and E Power RF amplifiers

Class-C, D, and E RF power amplifiers are all about high efficiency. They are used in large transmitters and industrial induction heaters, where high efficiency reduces the power bill and saves on cooling equipment, and also in the smallest transmitters, such as cell phones, where high efficiency increases battery life. These amplifiers are so nonlinear (the output signal amplitude is not proportional to the input signal amplitude), they might better be called synchronized sine wave generators. They consist of a power supply, at least one switching element (a transistor or vacuum tube), and an LCR circuit. The “ R ” is the load, R L , often the radiation resistance of an antenna, equivalent to a resistor. The LC network is resonant at the operating frequency. The output sine-wave amplitude, while not a linear function of the input signal amplitude, is proportional to the power supply voltage. Thus, these amplifiers can be amplitude modulated by varying the supply voltage. Of course they can also be frequency modulated by varying the drive frequency (within a restricted bandwidth, determined by the Q of the LC circuit). Finally, they can be used as frequency multipliers by driving them at a subharmonic of the operating frequency. The class-C amplifier Figure 9.1 shows a class-C amplifier (a), together with an equivalent circuit (b). The circuit looks no different from the class-B amplifier ofFigure 3.15 or a small-signal class-A amplifier.
Lecture Notes on Engineering Measurement for Software Engineers

Measurement is a fundamental skill for engineers. To facilitate teaching software engineering measurement, materials are provided to support three lectures: introduction to engineering measurement, measurement theory, and software engineering measures. These materials include lecture notes suitable for class handouts and additional information for instructors' educational objectives, pedagogical considerations, suggestions for class projects, an annotated bibliography, and transparency masters for use in the delivery of the lectures.
Cellular Defects and Altered Gene Expression in PC12 Cells Stably Expressing Mutant Huntingtin

Expanded polyglutamine tracts cause huntingtin and other proteins to accumulate and aggregate in neuronal nuclei. Whether the intranuclear aggregation or localization of a polyglutamine protein initiates cellular pathology remains controversial. We established stably transfected pheochromocytoma PC12 cells that express the N-terminal fragment of huntingtin containing 20 (20Q) or 150 (150Q) glutamine residues. The 150Q protein is predominantly present in the nuclei, whereas the 20Q protein is distributed throughout the cytoplasm. Electron microscopic examination confirmed that most of the 150Q protein is diffuse in the nucleus with very few microscopic aggregates observed. Compared with parental PC12 cells and cells expressing 20Q, cells expressing 150Q display abnormal morphology, lack normal neurite development, die more rapidly, and are more susceptible to apoptotic stimulation. The extent of these cellular defects in 150Q cells is correlated with the expression level of the 150Q protein. Differential display PCR and expression studies show that cells expressing 150Q have altered expression of multiple genes, including those that are important for neurite outgrowth. Our study suggests that mutant huntingtin in the nucleus is able to induce multiple cellular defects by interfering with gene expression even in the absence of aggregation.
Quaternary Barrier InAlGaN HEMTs With $f_{T}/f_{\max}$ of 230/300 GHz

Depletion-mode quaternary barrier In0.13Al0.83 Ga0.04N high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs) with regrown ohmic contacts and T-gates on a SiC substrate have been fabricated. Devices with 40-nm-long footprints show a maximum output current density of 1.8 A/mm, an extrinsic dc transconductance of 770 mS/mm, and cutoff frequencies fT/fmax of 230/300 GHz at the same bias, which give a record-high value of √fT ·fmax = 263 GHz among all reported InAl(Ga)N barrier HEMTs. The device speed shows good scalability with gate length despite the onset of short-channel effects due to the lack of a back barrier. An effective electron velocity of 1.36 ×107 cm/s, which is comparable with that in the state-of-the-art deeply scaled AlN/GaN HEMTs, has been extracted from the gate-length dependence of fT for gate lengths from 100 to 40 nm.
Particle size and chemical species ‘fingerprinting’ of aerosols in primary nickel production industry workplaces

A field study was conducted at a range of worksites at a number of plants, for two companies, in the primary nickel production industry. The aim of the field study was to provide direct measurements of the distributions of both particle size and relevant nickel species groups (soluble, sulfidic, metallic and oxidic), and to use the data to characterize health-relevant aerosol exposures of workers at the worksites in question. Since there was no commercially-available sampler that could provide samples of sufficient quantity to enable chemical speciation for the species fractions of interest, as well as particle size distribution information, new instrumentation was developed, based on a modified version of the Andersen cascade impactor, incorporating a porous foam media top stage that produced particle classification over the upper end of the inhalable range (Kerr, Vincent and Ramachandran, Annals of Occupational Hygiene, 2001, in the press). This modified-Andersen sampler was used in extensive field studies, along with other sampling instruments, including, in particular, the IOM personal inhalable aerosol sampler. The results of the field study provided results that could be represented succinctly in terms of the distributions of the four nickel species groups and the three health-related particle-size fractions: inhalable, thoracic and respirable. They showed that, for practical purposes, the distributions of the four nickel species groups were consistently uniform across the full range of particle-size distribution. For the purpose of characterizing the distribution of nickel species for each worksite, this finding enabled incorporation of additional data taken at those same sites using the IOM personal inhalable aerosol sampler. This yielded a data set sufficient to permit the development of exposure ‘fingerprints’ for each worksite. Such ‘fingerprints’ make it possible for the occupational hygienists at the plants in question to estimate workers' exposure to individual nickel species fractions based on measurement only of overall inhalable nickel. In addition, by reference to the differing threshold limit values (TLV) for the various nickel species, the ‘fingerprints’ also allow the individual worksites to be characterized by hazard indices (in the form of ‘equivalent sulfidic fractions’, or ESFs) that reflect the weightings of the risks experienced by workers at each worksite.
Beyond Trust in Government: Government Trust in Citizens?

This is the first of several reports from the Michigan Public Policy Survey on the opinions of Michigan’s local government leaders regarding citizen engagement in their jurisdictions. This report focuses on the levels of trust local officials feel toward their citizens as responsible participants in local governance. The findings are based on statewide surveys of local government leaders in the Fall 2012 wave of the Michigan Public Policy Survey (MPPS).
Maternal and Child Health Care Practices of the Matigsalug Tribe in Sitio Simsimon, Barangay Kalagangan, Bukidnon

This study was conducted to document the practices on maternal and child health care along the areas of pregnancy, dietary systems, birthing, feeding, baptismal rituals, illnesses and discipline among the Matigsalug tribe in Sitio Simsimon, Barangay Kalagangan, Bukidnon. The gathering of the data was obtained from actual fieldwork. Key informant interview, participant observation and photography were triangulated in this study. Findings show that Sitio Simsimon is a mountainous area. Houses are made of rattan and the people are practicing slash-burn farming. A Matigsalug pregnant woman observes taboos to protect the infant's life and health. Many beliefs and practices on food have desirable effects on maternal and child health. The mothers practiced breast feeding although working mother sometimes trained the child to eat solid food. Circumcision, tattoo, and the chewing of betel nut are practiced in the area. Illnesses are diagnosed as caused by evil spirits. The Matigsalug taught their children to value honesty, cultivate their farm and helped their father in food hunting. It was concluded that the Matigsalug still possessed certain indigenous maternal and child health care. It is recommended that the Matigsalug mothers need adequate knowledge in hygiene and nutrition to improve their maternal and child health care. Keywors: Maternal and Child Health Care Practices, Matigsalug Tribe
X charts with variable sampling intervals

The usual practice in using a control chart to monitor a process is to take samples from the process with fixed sampling intervals. This article considers the properties of the chart when the sampling interval between each pair of samples is not fixed but rather depends on what is observed in the first sample. The idea is that the time interval until the next sample should be short if a sample shows some indication of a change in the process and long if there is no indication of a change. The proposed variable sampling interval (VSI) chart uses a short sampling interval if is close to but not actually outside the control limits and a long sampling interval if is close to target. If is actually outside the control limits, then the chart signals in the same way as the standard fixed sampling interval (FSI) chart. Properties such as the average time to signal and the average number of samples to signal are evaluated. Comparisons between the FSI and the VSI charts indicate that the VSI chart is substantially ...
Endotoxin-induced ileal Vo2-Do2 alterations do not correlate with the severity of ileal injury

Purpose: Altered Vo2-Do2 relationships are most often noted to occur in the setting of sepsis or endotoxin (LPS)-induced systemic organ microvascular injury and are generally thought to be causally linked to that injury. However, we have recently shown that ileal microvascular injury is not associated with altered ileal Vo2-Do2 relationships. Thus, we hypothesized that the severity of LPS-induced systemic organ microvascular injury would not correlate with the development of systemic organ Vo2-Do2 alterations. Materials and Methods: To test this hypothesis, we used the in situ autoperfused feline ileal preparation to simultaneously examine microvascular permeability, reflected as the ileal lymph to plasma protein concentration ratio (Cl/Cp), and ileal Vo2-Do2 relationships 2 hours after intravenous LPS (0.75-2.0 mg/kg; n = 9) and in matching controls (n = 5). Results: As expected, all LPS-treated animals were found to have extensive ileal histological damage and marked increases in the CL/CP compared with controls (0.308 ± 0.019 v 0.097 ± 0.009; P < .001). In addition, although the critical Do2 (Do2C) was elevated in the LPS-treated animals relative to controls (34.2 ± 5.0 v 16.7 ± 1.4 mL/min/kg; P < .03), there was no correlation between the DO2c and the Cl/Cp in the LPS-treated animals. Finally, ileal wet to dry weight ratios after LPS did not differ from controls. Conclusion: Taken together, these data suggest that factors other than organ injury, as assessed by morphological and permeability alterations, are important in the pathogenesis of altered systemic organ Vo2-Do2 relationships after LPS.
An evolutionary game approach to fundamentalism and conflict

This paper investigates the evolutionary equilibria of a clash of cultures game where conflict results from failures to share social power in individual pairings. Members of a general subpopulation are matched with those of a fundamentalist subpopulation, the latter being more cohesive and insistent that their identity traits define the norms for, and outcomes of, social, economic, and political interaction. Simulations of the evolutionary dynamics reveal a tradeoff between the intolerance of fundamentalism and the likelihood of a takeover. This tradeoff is reversed if fundamentalism is falsifiable: affording non-fundamentalists the ability to signal fundamentalist traits produces a bandwagon effect.
Paleoclimate Reconstructions of Tropical Sea Surface Temperatures from Precipitation Proxies: Methods, Uncertainties, and Nonstationarity

Abstract Proxy-based paleoclimate reconstructions of tropical sea surface temperature (SST) fields may lead to better constraints of tropical climate variability in climate model projections. In this study, the authors quantify uncertainties associated with two popular SST anomaly reconstruction methods that have been applied over the last millennium. The first reconstruction method exploits the high correlation between the leading modes of variability of global precipitation and SSTs; the second method uses a multiregression model that exploits the multiple modes of covariability between precipitation and SSTs. Regardless of the proxy network density, the first method has skill only in the tropical eastern Pacific and misses some ENSO events. By contrast, the multiregression approach demonstrates high skill throughout the tropical Indo-Pacific region and predicts all ENSO events correctly. The advantage of the multiregression method lies in the second mode of covariability between SSTs and precipitation,...
THE ATTRACTION OF MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING

Magnetic resonance imaging is a new diagnostic technique. Its current application to rheumatology is in regional imaging, where it is at least as sensitive as CT scanning. Future research may reveal a role in histological analysis, to supersede invasive techniques. The limitations of this technique are discussed.
PI-Muonium: A determination of the pion charge radius

Abstract The 2 S 1 2 − 2 P 1 2 energy level shift of the π-gm atom is studied. It is shown that an experimental determination of the 2 S 1 2 − 2 P f 1 2 energy level shift accurate to one part per thousand can provide an independent determination of the pion charge radius.
Laboratory simulation of meteoritic noble gases. II - Sorption of xenon on carbon: Etching and heating experiments

The release of trapped Xe from amorphous-C phases of meteorites is simulated experimentally by HNO3 etching of carbon-black and pyrolyzed polyvinylidene chloride samples exposed to Xe-127 for 0.5-240 h at 100-1000 C and then degassed for 9 h or more at the same temperatures, as reported by Wacker et al. (1985). The results are presented in tables and graphs and characterized in detail. Samples exposed at 100-200 C are found to lose most of their Xe after etching to a depth of only about 20 pm, while those exposed at 800-1000 C exhibit a second more tightly bound component extending to a depth of 3 nm, indicative of diffusion of Xe during exposure and resembling planetary Xe. The higher noble-gas concentrations measured in meteorites are attributed to rate-controlled Xe uptake over a long period in the solar nebula.
Contextual and Linguistic Factors in Children's Comprehension of Nonliteral Language

It is argued that children's comprehension of nonliteral language is constrained primarily by epistemic, linguistic, and information-processing limitations. Some experimental evidence in support of this position is reviewed, and it is suggested that the linguistic form in which a nonliteral statement is expressed and the context in which it occurs can act on the linguistic and information-processing constraints and thus may facilitate or hinder comprehension. For example, it is easier for children to understand nonliteral statements when the statements are explicit (similes) rather than when they are implicit (predicative metaphors) or when they occur in predictable rather than unpredictable contexts, presumably because these statements reduce the information-processing load of the comprehension task and impose fewer demands on children's linguistic knowledge.
An early chart of the mediterranean by Nicholas Comberford, 1626

Students of the Thames School chartmakers in seventeenth century London have been puzzled by several instances of long periods of supposed activity for which there are no signed charts of record. For example, John Daniel, the first Draper chartmaker of the Thames School took the freedom in 1590 but his earliest known chart is dated 1614.' Likewise, Nicholas Comberford completed his apprenticeship with Daniel in 1620, but his earliest known chart of record has heretofore been the Biscay Channel of 1641 in the Library of the University of Kansas. Considerable interest, therefore, results from the recent discovery of a chart signed and dated 1626 which had been in the collection of a French family in the south of France for several generations and which was recently acquired by a collector in Paris.2
Obsidian hydration dating of volcanic events

Abstract Obsidian hydration dating of volcanic events had been compared with ages of the same events determined by the 14C and KAr methods at several localities. The localities, ranging in age from 1200 to over 1 million yr, include Newberry Craters, Oregon; Coso Hot Springs, California; Salton Sea, California; Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming; and Mineral Range, Utah. In most cases the agreement is quite good. A number of factors including volcanic glass composition and exposuretemperature history must be known in order to relate hydration thickness to age. The effect of composition can be determined from chemical analysis or the refractive index of the glass. Exposure-temperature history requires a number of considerations enumerated in this paper.
Coupling of Buoyant Convections in Boron Oxide and a Molten Semiconductor in a Vertical Magnetic Field

We treat the buoyant convection in a layer of boron oxide, called a liquid encapsulant, which lies above a layer of a molten compound semiconductor (melt) between cold and hot vertical walls in a rectangular container with a steady vertical magnetic field B. The magnetic field provides an electromagnetic (EM) damping of the molten semiconductor which is an excellent electrical conductor but has no direct effect on the motion of the liquid encapsulant. The temperature gradient drives counter clockwise circulations in both the melt and encapsulant. These circulations alone would lead to positive and negative values of the horizontal velocity in the encapsulant and melt, respectively, near the interface. The competition between the two buoyant convections determines the direction of the horizontal velocity of the interface
Potassium rate alters the antioxidant capacity and phenolic concentration of basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) leaves.

In the current study, we have determined how potassium rate affects the phenolic levels and antioxidant properties of three cultivars of basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) leaves: Dark Opal, Sweet Thai, and Genovese. Potassium rate increased the total phenolic concentration in basil, with basil treated at the highest potassium rate, 5.0 mM K, containing greater phenolic levels than basil treated at the lowest potassium rate, 1.0 mM K (p = 0.008). Basil grown at 5.0 mM K also had higher concentrations of rosmarinic (p = 0.005) and chicoric (p < 0.001) acids compared to lower potassium treatment levels. Correspondingly, 1.0 mM K basil had lower DPPH (2,2′-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) (p ⩽ 0.005) and FRAP (ferric reducing antioxidant power, p = 0.043) antioxidant capacities compared to basil treated at higher potassium rates. Cultivar was also found to impact the phenolic composition and antioxidant properties of basil, with Sweet Thai having lower total phenolic concentrations and FRAP antioxidant capacities than Dark Opal and Genovese. Although not affected by potassium rate, anthocyanin concentrations varied significantly among the cultivars, with purple Dark Opal basil exhibiting higher anthocyanin levels than Sweet Thai (p = 0.003) and Genovese (p = 0.002).