cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Polylysine cross-links axoplasmic neurofilaments into tight bundles.

We have used axoplasm from the squid giant axon to investigate the effects of anionic and cationic polypeptides on the mobility and organization of axonal neurofilaments (NFs). Intact cylinders of axoplasm were extruded from squid giant axons into an excess volume of artificial axoplasm solution. In a previous study on the mobility of NFs in extruded axoplasm, we showed that these polymers disperse freely and diffusively into the surrounding solution, thereby expanding the axoplasmic cross-sectional area [Brown and Lasek, 1993: Cell Motil. Cytoskeleton 2Ck313-3241. In the present study, we found that 83nm-long (‘ ‘long-chain”) polylysine, a synthetic multivalent cationic protein, inhibited the radial expansion of isolated axoplasm and condensed the axoplasm, thereby reducing the cross-sectional area. Equivalent concentrations of a 7nm-long (“shortchain”) polylysine did not inhibit the expansion of axoplasm and did not cause the axoplasm to condense. Inhibition of the expansion of axoplasm by long-chain pol ylysine was dependent on the polylysine concentration; condensation of axoplasm was observed at concentrations of 0.01 mg/ml (0.27 pM) or greater. Electron microscopy of the condensed axoplasm showed that the NFs were aligned side-by-side and in parallel in closely-packed bundles. Equivalent concentrations of 9lnm-long (“long-chain”) polyglutamate, a synthetic multivalent anionic protein, partially inhibited the expansion of axoplasm but did not cause the NFs to bundle and did not cause the axoplasm to condense. These studies indicate that cationic proteins bind tightly to the highly charged anionic surfaces of NFs and can link them together into compact bundles in a charge-dependent and length-dependent manner. The tightly packed organization of these crosslinked NFs differs from the normal loose organization of NFs in healthy axons. However, tightly bundled NFs are sometimes found in certain neuropathologies, such as giant axonal neuropathy. 0 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Web-based data management for a phase II clinical trial in ALS

The objective was to report on the creation, features and performance of a web-based data management system for a two-stage phase II randomized clinical trial of Co-Enzyme Q10 in ALS. We created a relatively comprehensive web-based data system that provided electronic data entry; patient management utilities; adverse event reporting, safety monitoring, and invoice generation; and standardized coding for medications and adverse events. In stage 1, clinical sites submitted 7207 forms reporting on 105 patients followed for 10 months. Less than 0.7% of submitted forms contained errors. At the time of the delivery of the analysis data set, only four errors remained unresolved. Data were available quickly, with a median time from event to data posting of two days. The data set was locked and the analysis data set produced nine days after the final patient visit. A survey of trial personnel yielded generally positive feedback, with 75% of respondents wishing to use a similar system in the future. Given sufficient resources, a comprehensive web-based data management system can meet the need for clean, available data in clinical trials in ALS and similar diseases, and can contribute significantly to their efficient execution.
Accessibility of DNA In Situ to Various Fluorochromes: Relationship to Chromatin Changes During Erythroid Differentiation of Friend Leukemia Cells'

Friend leukemia cells from exponentially growing or differentiated (DMSO-induced) cultures were permealized and their DNA was stained with 4'6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI), Hoechst 33342, acridine organge, ethidium bromide, propidium iodide, quinacrine, 7-amino-actinomycin D, mithramycin, or chromomycin AB. Accessibility of DNA to each of the above fluorochromes was compared in differentiated and nondifferentiated cells before and after nuclear proteins, mostly histones, were extracted with 0.1N HCl. A decrease in the accessibility of DNA to several dyes, especially pronounced in the case of some intercalators, was observed in differentiated cells. After extraction of nuclear proteins with HCl there was an increase in DNA accessibility, of varying degree depending on the fluorochrome and the difference between differentiated and nondifferentiated cells was abolished for most of the intercalating dyes. The increase was the lowest for DAPI (45%), the highest for 7-amino-actinomycin D (13fold), and in general was higher for the intercalating dyes that unwind DNA than for dyes binding externally to the double helix. The results are discussed in terms of the mode of interactions between DNA and the fluorochromes and factors associated with chromatin structure that may affect accessibility of DNA in situ in exponentially growing and differentiated cells. Key terms: Flow cytometry, intercalation, DNA unwinding, external dye binding, histones
The Wealth Effect Of The Stock Market Revisited

This paper provides evidence that wealth in the form of stock ownership affects consumption and that the stock wealth effect has increased significantly. Using a consumption function expanded to include wealth as well as income, the paper first confirms that the data indicate the presence of a wealth effect. Then, the paper tests for a break in the relationship and finds that for stock wealth only, the consumption coefficient increased in the early 1990s.
A Perfect Storm

In this article we shall explore the elements of the perfect storm. Specifically, it reflects on the confluence of sequentially interrelated events and processes: (a) a national cult of violence; (...
Salmonella enteritidis liver abscess.

A 56 year old Vietnamese American male presented to our hospital with sudden onset epigastric pain that was achy and intermittent with some pleuritic component. He denied fevers or other constitutional and abdominal symptoms but reported anorexia and generalized fatigue for 1 month. He had a remote history of alcohol abuse and had recently returned from a one month leisure trip in Vietnam, where he denied fresh water swimming and claimed to have consumed only bottled water. He was taking acetaminophen-codeine as needed for pain and denied any allergies. His examination was remarkable for a BMI of 14.4, generalized wasting, mild right upper quadrant and epigastric tenderness; Murphy’s sign was negative. Initial labs were significant for microcytic anemia (hemoglobin 12.3 g/dL), INR 1.3, albumin 2.5 g/dL, direct bilirubin 0.5 mg/dL, ALT 49 IU/L, glucose 336 mg/dL. Lipase was normal, HIV non-reactive. Computed tomography (CT) of the abdomen revealed a mass in the medial segment of the left hepatic lobe measuring 6.0 x 3.7 cm with well-defined margins, containing numerous cystic appearing areas and enhancement of the solid portion around the cystic components (Figure 1). Ultrasound guided hepatic abscess drainage yielded thick tenacious pus and a pigtail catheter was placed. The fluid was pink, turbid, white blood cells 932000/uL, 100% neutrophils. Cultures grew Salmonella serotype enteritidis. Serologies for E. histolytica and Echinococcus were negative. The patient was started on piperacillin-tazobactam and metronidazole, and discharged with oral ciprofloxacin based on sensitivities. Repeat abdominal CT two weeks after presentation showed resolution of the previously described mass and the patient was clinically better. Liver abscesses are rare in the developed world. They are classed as either amebic or pyogenic in nature, with an incidence of 1 and 11 cases per million persons per year respectively.1 Pyogenic abscesses are most common in the right lobe, followed by the left and caudate lobes; Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae are the most common isolates followed by Bacteroides, Streptococcus and Enterococcus spp.1,2 Hepatic abscesses secondary to non-typhi salmonella are very rarely described in the general population, especially in the developed world. Their pathogenesis has been described in patients with HIV3 and our patient was likely at increased risk given his history of alcohol abuse.4 Despite this unusual etiology, he responded to dual therapy with antibacterial agents and percutaneous drainage.3,4
Acute Pancreatitis: What and When Is There Room for Imaging in the Diagnosis and Followup of Patients with Acute Inflammation of the Pancreatic Gland?

This is a fundamentally important question because appropriate care of this disease requires careful monitoring of the patient and sometimes judicious but intrusive interventions. Certain presentations provide an impetus for pictorial representation of the presence and extent of the disease. In many institutions CT has become by force of use routine in the initial assessment of patients presenting with signs and symptoms suggestive of acute inflammation of the pancreas. As we move from the exploitative phase of imaging to a more conservationist role, every imaging protocol should be assessed for appropriateness. The purpose of this review is to consider why imaging, particularly CT, has become part and parcel of the initial workup of patients with this disease and to examine if such a notion has been established beyond doubt or is open to question. If one were to go back to the literature of 10 or 15 years ago one would see articles advocating sonography in acute pancreatitis. It should be gratifying to all of us that this examination really has no place in the acute assessment of patients with pancreatitis. One study revealed that the ability to visualize the pancreas by ultrasonography was less than 15 % in patients with acute inflammation of that organ. Thus, most of the results of ultrasound evaluation upon entry to emergency suite were that the studies were equivocal, occasioned by the presence of gas in the stomach and transverse colon, which obscured visualization of the solid pancreatic mass beneath it and below it. Moreover, sonography in this setting should be regarded as an invasive procedure because the pressure of the transducer on a patient with acute upper abdominal pain makes the discomfort worse. The only role for sonography in acute pancreatitis is to help to determine whether the etiology is related to the presence of gallstones, one of which may have passed from the gall bladder into the common bile duct and along the way blocked the pancreatic duct causing acute pancreatic inflammation. However, this need not be done initially as the main function of treatment in the early phase is to prevent serious complications and to be supportive in mild and moderate cases.
Chemical Imaging and Dynamical Studies of Reactivity and Emergent Behavior in Complex Interfacial Systems. Final Technical Report

This research program explored the efficacy of using molecular-level manipulation, imaging and scanning tunneling spectroscopy in conjunction with supersonic molecular beam gas-surface scattering to significantly enhance our understanding of chemical processes occurring on well-characterized interfaces. One program focus was on the spatially-resolved emergent behavior of complex reaction systems as a function of the local geometry and density of adsorbate-substrate systems under reaction conditions. Another focus was on elucidating the emergent electronic and related reactivity characteristics of intentionally constructed single and multicomponent atom- and nanoparticle-based materials. We also examined emergent chirality and self-organization in adsorbed molecular systems where collective interactions between adsorbates and the supporting interface lead to spatial symmetry breaking. In many of these studies we combined the advantages of scanning tunneling (STM) and atomic force (AFM) imaging, scanning tunneling local electronic spectroscopy (STS), and reactive supersonic molecular beams to elucidate precise details of interfacial reactivity that had not been observed by more traditional surface science methods. Using these methods, it was possible to examine, for example, the differential reactivity of molecules adsorbed at different bonding sites in conjunction with how reactivity is modified by the local configuration of nearby adsorbates. At the core of this effort was the goalmore » of significantly extending our understanding of interfacial atomic-scale interactions to create, with intent, molecular assemblies and materials with advanced chemical and physical properties. This ambitious program addressed several key topics in DOE Grand Challenge Science, including emergent chemical and physical properties in condensed phase systems, novel uses of chemical imaging, and the development of advanced reactivity concepts in combustion and catalysis including carbon management. These activities directly benefitted national science objectives in the areas of chemical energy production and advanced materials development.« less
The Mara Cultural Heritage Digital Library: The Implications of Repatriating Oral Tradition in Digital Media

Since 1995 I have been interviewing elders, both men and women, in the Mara Region to collect oral traditions. This research has resulted in a number of books and articles published by academic presses. But people in the Mara Region often want access to the original interviews, audio, video and photos, with their now deceased relatives. In some cases these are the only representations their grandparents generation. Yet it is also clear that youth who did not sit with their grandparents have less and less connection to this material. The Tanzanian Department of Education secondary school curriculum mandates teaching local histories. Yet, particularly for isolated regions like Mara, few resources have been published for this purpose. The Mara Cultural Heritage Digital Library (MCHDL) is a project that aims to digitize and make available to people in the Mara Region my own research materials. This will form the basis for adding other collections and interesting youth in recording community stories as a constantly evolving database. Either Secondary Schools or Community Resource Centers (CRC) might serve as the access point for the digital library. This project has been in process for three years on a limited budget with a prototype of sample material on the Greenstone platform available on a restricted website. The paper will explore the broader theoretical approaches and problematic aspects of using digital media for repatriating oral knowledge, as well as the practical challenges in producing, funding and making it usable in rural Tanzania, including intersection with educational and community institutions. A digital library has the possibility of providing multiple versions of and perspectives on cultural heritage rather than the unified account required for paper publication. It is thus less susceptible to being co-opted by particular interest groups or power struggles and more available for multiple and complex reinterpretations of the past. Yet the biggest challenge is in providing access in a way that honors the heritage of those who produced these materials.
Safety Assessment of Pharmaceuticals

The safety assessment of pharmaceuticals is highly regulated with specific testing requirements prior to marketing approval of the drug. The evaluation of safety can be broadly divided into two phases: preclinical/nonclinical and clinical. The nonclinical phase progresses from discovery with physical and chemical characterization of the drug through an increasingly complex series of animal toxicity studies. The clinical phase is testing of the new drug in humans. This article provides a general overview of nonclinical or experimental animal safety testing in order to gain drug approval in the United States, European Union, and Japan.
SIMULATION OF WIND FARM OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE

ABSTRACT We develop a discrete event-based simulation frameworkthat mimics the operations of a commercial size wind farm. Eachturbine is treated as separate module, so that the simulation canbe easily scaled up to more than one hundred turbines for a farm.Each turbine module includes a structural element sub-module,degradation sub-module, power generation sub-module, sensingand maintenance scheduling sub-module. The simulator is spe-cially designed to handle a large number of unorganized randomevents (turbine failures, waiting for parts, weather disruptions)and reﬂect in the simulator’s outputs the variation from param-eters and operations. We report on implementation results andprovide insights into wind farm operations under different main-tenance strategies. NOMENCLATURE X M Set of input ports.Y M Set of output ports.S Set of sequential states.d ext External transition function.d int Internal state transition function.d con Conﬂuent transition function.l Output function.ta Time advance function.Q Set of total states.
Occurrence of Ecdysteroids in Specific Body Organs of the Camel Tick, Hyalomma Dromedarii, and the American Dog Tick, Dermacentor Variabilis (Acari: Ixodidae), With Notes on their Synthesis from Cholesterol

Evidence suggesting significant accumulations of ecdysteroids in the vicinity of the synganglion and associated nerve plexi of virgin feeding Dermacentor variabilis and Hyalomma dromedarii is described. Excision of the nerve plexi surrounding the synganglion resulted in a drastic drop in ecdysteroid titer. The presence of 20-hydroxyecdysone in the synganglia/nerve plexi of these ticks was demonstrated by high-performance liquid chromatography. Significant quantities, from 1.36–1.93mg/tick, were also found in the hemolymph. Other studies indicated biosynthesis of ecdysteroids, especially 20-hydroxyecdysone, from cholesterol. Large accumulations of 14C-labeled material were found in the central nervous system of H. dromedarii adults, especially in the cortical zone and, to a lesser extent, in the vicinity of the lateral nerve plexus, following inoculation of 14C cholesterol into nymphs. Whether these findings reflect synthesis of ecdysteroids in and/or near the synganglion or merely storage of steroids and sterols in these structures is unknown. Radioimmunoassay revealed ecdysteroid activity in all other tissues and organs examined, but in considerably smaller amounts than in the synganglion/nerve plexi and hemolymph. Relatively large amounts of ecdysteroid were found in the foveal glands, which may indicate hormonal regulation of these structures.
Present Status of the Combination of Surgery and Irradiation

Surgery plus irradiation sometimes becomes irradiation plus surgery, the sequence depending on the particular circumstances. A combination of surgery and irradiation that is tailored to fit the individual situation can improve both the survival rate and the quality of survival. Many patients can be spared the mutilation of radical surgical procedures through the use of irradiation to eradicate microscopic disease or to sterilize disease in certain areas of spread.
Contraction-mediated inactivation of glycogen synthase is accompanied by inactivation of glycogen synthase phosphatase in human skeletal muscle.

Activities of glycogen synthase (GS) and GS phosphatase were determined on human muscle biopsies before and after isometric contraction at 2/3 maximal voluntary force. Total GS activity did not change during contraction (4.92 +/- 0.70 at rest versus 5.00 +/- 0.42 mmol/min per kg dry wt.; mean +/- S.E.M.), whereas both the active form of GS and the ratio of active form to total GS decreased by approximately 35% (P less than 0.01). GS phosphatase was inactivated in all subjects by an average of 39%, from 5.95 +/- 1.30 to 3.63 +/- 0.97 mmol/min per kg dry wt. (P less than 0.01). It is suggested that at least part of the contraction-induced inactivation of GS is due to an inactivation of GS phosphatase.
Quantity, Quality, and Availability of Waste Heat from United States Thermal Power Generation.

Secondary application of unconverted heat produced during electric power generation has the potential to improve the life-cycle fuel efficiency of the electric power industry and the sectors it serves. This work quantifies the residual heat (also known as waste heat) generated by U.S. thermal power plants and assesses the intermittency and transport issues that must be considered when planning to utilize this heat. Combining Energy Information Administration plant-level data with literature-reported process efficiency data, we develop estimates of the unconverted heat flux from individual U.S. thermal power plants in 2012. Together these power plants discharged an estimated 18.9 billion GJth of residual heat in 2012, 4% of which was discharged at temperatures greater than 90 °C. We also characterize the temperature, spatial distribution, and temporal availability of this residual heat at the plant level and model the implications for the technical and economic feasibility of its end use. Increased impleme...
A 10 V Fully-Integrated Switched-Mode Step-up Piezo Drive Stage in $0.13\,\upmu\text{m} $ CMOS Using Nested-Bootstrapped Switch Cells

A completely integrated 3.3 V to 10 Vpk-pk bidirectional switched-capacitor ladder converter is presented for driving the piezo actuators of a 2 mm wing micro-robotic flying insect. The 0.1–10 MHz converter, fabricated in 1.2 V/3.3 V triple-well 0.13 $\upmu $ m CMOS, operates as a switched-mode amplifier with 0–3.3 V waveforms at the input and a constant 3x step-up while exhibiting symmetric drive strength for positive and negative load currents. A feedforward switching scheme that effectively bootstraps gate-drive signals for the power switches of the ladder converter has been implemented to enable output waveforms above both the supply and device voltage rating, between 0 V and ${\sim} $ 10 V. Non-overlapping clock signals float with the dc–500 Hz arbitrary input waveform, or a 2x scaled replica, while keeping all transistors within safe operating conditions. A voltage compliant sub-circuit, the Nested-Bootstrapped Switch (NBS) cell, is introduced as a building block for the creation of the gate-drive signals. On-chip MIM capacitors and 3.3 V I/O MOS switches for the ladder converter were sized based on a charge-multiplier representation of the converter and the output impedance concept. Experiments show actuation of a 2 mm wing prototype, an effective 5 nF peak load, and efficiency of 77% at 800 $\upmu $ W and 80% at 32 $\upmu $ W.
A Voltage Regulator-Assisted Lightweight AES Implementation Against DPA Attacks

In this paper, the mathematical foundations of the security implications of utilizing various on-chip voltage converters as a countermeasure against differential power analysis (DPA) attacks are investigated. An exhaustive mathematical analysis of a recently proposed converter-reshuffling (CoRe) technique is presented where measurement to disclose (MTD) is used to compare the security of the proposed on-chip CoRe regulator with the security of conventional on-chip voltage regulators. A DPA-resistant and lightweight advanced encryption standard (AES) engine implementation that leverages the CoRe technique is proposed. The impact of the centralized and distributed placement of the voltage regulators on the security of a pipelined AES engine is explored. The security implications of the relationship between the clock frequency of the device under attack and the switching frequency of the voltage regulator are investigated. As compared to an unprotected AES engine, the MTD value of the proposed improved pipelined AES engine with a centralized on-chip CoRe regulator is enhanced over 9100 times.
The Green Building Revolution: Advancing Sustainability at Exponential Speed

There is no singular definition of Sustainability and the word is starting to become a commonly used term with a diverse scope from environmental to social issues. The author believes that sustainability or sustain means to maintain or continue, survival, maintenance, continuity, not losing ground or going backwards. The author typed in “Definition of Sustainability” in Google and received almost two million hits. The Environmental Protection Agency/EPA (2012) provided the following definition of sustainability:
High-speed burst-mode photonic packet communication technologies

Exponential growth in connection-less traffic such as the Internet and intranet, has driven the future of optical networks to packet-based switching and routing networks.
Production and distribution: data, hypothesis and problems

We represent a disaggregate and interdependent economic system characterized by sectors producing primary commodities and sectors producing non-primary commodities.
Trade-off, Timing, and Capital Structure

The trade-off theory posits that firms seek to maintain a target capital structure and the market timing hypothesis suggests that managers are able to recognize and exploit stock misvaluation when they recapitalize. Jointly, these theories imply that deviations from target leverage reflect stock mispricing. Our results strongly support this view. We find that firms that are over-levered relative to their target outperform under-levered firms by roughly five percent per year over the next three to five years. The results hold for firms that issue debt or equity as well as for non-issuers. Our findings indicate that firms' capital structure choice is best understood using a combination of trade-off and market timing theories.
The Slippery Slope of Student Evaluations

The proper and improper uses of student evaluations are discussed, with an introduction and summary of the literature on the subject.
Low Lean Mass With and Without Obesity, and Mortality: Results From the 1999–2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

Background The Foundation for the NIH Sarcopenia Project validated cutpoints for appendicular lean mass. We ascertained the relationship between low lean mass (LLM), obesity, and mortality and identified predictors in this subgroup. Methods A total of 4,984 subjects aged 60 years and older were identified from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999-2004 linked to the National Death Index. LLM was defined using reduced appendicular lean mass (men < 19.75 kg; females < 15.02 kg). Obesity was defined using dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry body fat (males ≥ 25%; females ≥ 35%). LLM with obesity was defined using criteria for both LLM and obesity. Proportional hazard models determined mortality risk for LLM and LLM with obesity, separately (referent = no LLM and no LLM with obesity, respectively). Results Mean age was 71.1 ± 0.19 years (56.5% female). Median follow-up was 102 months (interquartile range: 78, 124) with 1,901 deaths (35.0%). Prevalence of LLM with obesity was 33.5% in females and 12.6% in males. In those with LLM, overall mortality risk was 1.49 (1.27, 1.73) in males and 1.19 (1.02, 1.40) in females. Mortality risk in LLM with obesity was 1.31 (1.11, 1.55) and 0.99 (0.85, 1.16) in males and females, respectively. Age, diabetes, history of stroke, congestive heart failure, cancer, and kidney disease were predictive of death. Conclusions Risk of death is higher in subjects with LLM than with LLM and obesity. Having advanced age, diabetes, stroke, heart failure, cancer, and renal disease predict a worse prognosis in both classifications.
Applying fiber optic and telecom technologies for multiphoton biomedical imaging

The main characteristics of the pulsed excitation source, such as wavelength, pulse energy, and repetition rate, for multiphoton biomedical imaging are discussed. Recent advances in these sources using fiber optic and telecom techniques are presented.
Association of chromosome 17 copy number instability with favorable prognosis in nonsurgically treated gastroesophageal adenocarinoma and impaired response to trastuzumab.

61Background: Chromosomal instability (CIN), defined as cell to cell variation in copy number, is a feature of solid tumors that has been shown in experimental systems to result in aneuploidy, DNA damage, changes in gene expression, and genetically heterogeneous cell populations. In esophageal adenocarcinoma, chromosome 17 (Chr17) aneusomy is associated with heterogeneous HER2 amplification, a marker of poor prognosis (Yoon et al., J Clin Oncol 2012), but the association between CIN, HER2 amplification and clinical outcome has not been well studied. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed individual cell Chr17 centromere counts in 348 gastroesophageal adenocarcinomas that were tested for HER2 amplification. As an estimate of Chr17 CIN (CIN-17), we calculated the percentage of cells with centromere counts differing from the mode (modal centromere deviation, MCD, Roylance et al. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev, 2011). We analyzed the association of CIN-17 with Chr17 aneusomy, HER2 amplification, pathologic tu...
Nonthermal pasteurization of tender coconut water using a continuous flow coiled UV reactor

Abstract A non-thermal pasteurization technology is desirable to naturally preserve nutrient and organoleptic properties of packaged tender coconut water (TCW) distributed under refrigeration. The goal of this research was to assess the antimicrobial effectiveness of ultraviolet light C (UVC) as a non-thermal pasteurization of TCW. A dean flow ultraviolet reactor was used with wavelength of 254 nm at the residence time of 14.0 s. The experimental variables were three Reynold numbers (R e = 198.8, 397.7 and 596.4) and two diameters of transparent PFA tubes (3.2 mm and 1.6 mm). TCW was inoculated with cultures of Escherichia coli W1485 and Listeria monocytogenes separately before passing through the UV reactor. UVC treatment yielded 5.27 and 4.74 log 10 CFU/mL E. coli count reductions for 1.6 mm and 3.2 mm ID reactors, respectively, whereas the reduction of Listeria monocytogenes were 4.18 and 2.96 log 10 CFU/mL, respectively at Re = 596.4. Furthermore, as the Reynold number increased, microbial reduction also increased. The physico-chemical changes of cold pasteurized TCW were not significantly different compared to the fresh TCW.
The effects of groove design on residual stress distribution

Publisher Summary The chapter discusses the effects of groove design on residual stress distribution. The chapter uses the finite element method (FEM) to simulate a welding process to evaluate the effects of groove design (GD) on the distribution of residual stress (RS). It develops three different GD models to butt two same thick plates together. Three-dimensional (3-D) models are discussed in the chapter. The material properties are all temperature related. The results suggest that the welding RS is different because of different GD. For this reason, it is essential to optimize GD before welding. Welding is a major method to join thick plates together. RS affects welding structures seriously. So it is very important to know the distribution of RS.
A dual model for emulation of thermosteric and dynamic sea-level change

Future thermosteric and dynamic sea-level changes are often projected by process-based climate models. Emulation of such computationally expensive models helps enable model intercomparison over a range of forcing scenarios and thus enables additional analysis of sea-level rise projection uncertainty. Current emulation methods use linear response functions to estimate global mean sea-level response. Here, we introduce a novel dual model to emulate global mean thermosteric sea-level rise that incorporates short- and long-term responses to climate forcing. This nonlinear response function outperforms existing linear response functions over six illustrative general circulation models and the four representative concentration pathways. To emulate dynamic sea-level projections, we introduce a linear pattern scaling model that relates regional sea-level changes to global mean thermosteric sea-level rise. Pattern scaling is shown to reproduce strongly forced sea-level trends. Our results demonstrate effective emulation of global and regional sea-level rise, which can facilitate the consideration of sea-level rise projection uncertainty critical to the analysis of sea-level rise hazard.
Uniform Quantization Noise

We now turn to a theoretical study of the most important practical source coding system: uniform quantization. This example provides a guinea pig for several of the theoretical bounds and approximations of this book. We shall see that some of the aysmptotic theory provides useful insight into the quality of simple scalar quantization, but that other aspects of the theory can be extremely misleading if they are applied carelessly to systems violating the basic conditions required for the approximation arguments to hold.
Restriction Endonucleases: Structure of the Conserved Catalytic Core and the Role of Metal Ions in DNA Cleavage

Type II restriction endonucleases (REases) are a fascinating group of proteins. With the REBasedatabase currently listing ≈3500 Type II REases having nearly 240 distinct DNA sequence specificities, they constitute one of the larger known families of enzymes (Roberts et al. 2003). These DNA-cleaving enzymes combine very high catalytic efficiencies (kcat/ kuncat= ≈ 1016) with exquisite DNA sequence selectivity. Restriction enzymes that are classified Type II (Welsh et al., this Vol.) cleave specifically within or close to their recognition sites, and do not require ATP hydrolysis for their nucleolytic activity. DNA cleavage by these enzymes can result in DNA with either 5′ or 3′ overhangs or blunt ends.
Stereotactic Ablative Body Radiotherapy for Primary Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer: Achieving Local Control with a Lower Biologically Effective Dose.

We conducted a retrospective study of stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) for 94 patients with non-small-cell lung cancer at our institution. The patients were treated with either 50 Gy in fi...
Functional proteasome complex is required for turnover of islet amyloid polypeptide in pancreatic β-cells.

Human islet amyloid polypeptide (hIAPP) is the principal constituent of amyloid deposits and toxic oligomers in the pancreatic islets. Together with hyperglycemia, hIAPP-derived oligomers and aggregates are important culprits in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Here, we explored the role of the cell's main proteolytic complex, the proteasome, in hIAPP turnover in normal and stressed β-cells evoked by chronic hyperglycemia. Moderate inhibition (10–35%) of proteasome activity/function in cultured human islets by the proteasome inhibitor lactacystin enhanced intracellular accumulation of hIAPP. Unexpectedly, prolonged (>1 h) and marked (>50%) impairment of proteasome activity/function had a strong inhibitory effect on hIAPP transcription and secretion from normal and stressed β-cells. This negative compensatory feedback mechanism for controlling IAPP turnover was also observed in the lactacystin-treated rat insulinoma β-cell line (INS 832/13), demonstrating the presence of an evolutionarily conserved mechanism for IAPP production. In line with these in situ studies, our current ex vivo data showed that proteasome activity and hIAPP expression are also down-regulated in islets isolated from T2DM subjects. Gene expression and promoter activity studies demonstrated that the functional proteasome complex is required for efficient activation of the hIAPP promoter and for full expression of IAPP's essential transcription factor, FOXA2. ChIP studies revealed that promoter occupancy of FoxA2 at the rat IAPP promoter region is an important and limiting factor for amylin expression in proteasome-impaired murine cells. This study suggests a novel regulatory pathway in β-cells involving proteasome, FOXA2, and IAPP, which can be possibly targeted to regulate hIAPP levels and islet amyloidosis in T2DM.
Do Status-Legitimizing Beliefs Moderate Effects of Racial Progress on Perceptions of Anti-White Bias? A Replication of Wilkins and Kaiser (2014):

In three studies, Wilkins and Kaiser found that both chronic and experimental salience of racial progress in the United States increased the perceptions of anti-White bias only among people high in...
Combination of Tests for Cointegration in Cross‐Correlated Panels

In this paper, Cheng and Sheng's (2017) combination of ‘combinations of P‐values’ (CCP) is extended to a combination of more than two tests and applied for cointegration testing in cross‐correlated panels. In a Monte Carlo experiment, power and size of the different combinations of combinations are investigated. If uncertainty about the panel configuration is taken into account, the results indicate that a multi‐test combination can minimize power losses. Furthermore, the usefulness of the combinations studied is illustrated by an application to international interest rate linkage. Cross‐sectional dependencies in both the simulation and the empirical studies are accounted for by using the block bootstrap.
Abstract WP224: Decline of Carotid Endartarectomy and Stenting From 2009 to 2013 Among U.S. Elderly With Ischemic Stroke

Background: The patterns of carotid revascularization procedures after ischemic stroke have evolved in the U.S. and around the world. We aimed to examine the rate and trend of carotid revasculariza...
Theme-Centered Interaction: Intersections with Reflective Practice in North American Religious Contexts

A variety of efforts in North America include frameworks for helping participants in learning events to listen more carefully, to attend more reflectively, to speak more slowly. Here is an important intersection in which the work of Theme-Centered Interaction, Ruth C. Cohn’s psychologically grounded and astute theorizing and practice, offers substantial affirmation of specific processes. There are clear resonances between strategies such as ‘being your own chairperson’ and ‘knowing your theory-in-use’. Reflective teaching practices support putting learning at the heart of higher education, rather than too narrowly falling into teaching-focused interaction.
Chemically and Physically Induced Luminescence as a Probe of Photosynthetic Mechanisms

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses chemically and physically induced luminescence as a probe of photosynthetic mechanisms. From the moment of its discovery, it was hoped that delayed fluorescence would provide new insights into the mechanism of the early steps of quantum conversion by the photosynthetic apparatus. Luminscence studies have indeed furnished such information. But in addition, current studies indicate that delayed and induced fluorescence may provide sensitive probes of the storage of charge in photosystem II—the oxygen-evolving system of photosynthesis—and even of the state and structure of the photosynthetic membranes, and of the storage of the high energy intermediates that are used to drive photo-phosphorylation. The mechanisms of oxygen evolution and photo-phosphorylation have been among the more intractable and controversial problems in photosynthesis research. The fact that oxygen can cause bacteria to emit light suggested that luminescence might be evoked by other oxidants, such as ferricyanide; but reductants such as hydrosulfite could also be likely candidates
Neutrophil Gelatinase-Associated Lipocalin Levels in Patients with Thalassemia Intermedia: Lack of Association with Erythropoiesis, Iron Metabolism, Renal Dysfunction and Inflammation.

Neutrophil Gelatinase-Associated Lipocalin (NGAL, 24p3, SIP24, lipocalin-2 or siderocalin) is a novel iron-carrier protein exerting pleiotropic properties. The physiological role of NGAL is not fully elucidated though a few pivotal functions, such as regulation of apoptosis of leukocytes have been described recently. It has also been demonstrated that NGAL is abundantly expressed in erythroid progenitor cells inducing apoptosis and inhibiting their differentiation. NGAL is reduced in the erythroid cells of mice with acute anemia and injection of recombinant lipocalin-2 delayed the recovery of red blood cells suggesting a negative effect of NGAL in accelerating erythropoiesis. The recently reported functions of NGAL on erythroid progenitor cells and its relation to iron transport prompted us to study the pattern of NGAL levels in Thalassemia Intermedia (TI), which is characterized by erythroid progenitor cells hyperactivity and irregularities in iron metabolism (especially iron transport). To this end we measured NGAL levels in 30 patients with TI and in 20 apparently healthy controls matched for age. We also evaluated other parameters that could be possibly related to NGAL’s functions as: soluble transferrin receptor (sTfR) for eythroid marrow activity; NTBI concentration for non-transferrin-bound mediate iron delivery pathway; creatinine, cystatin C and β 2 -microglobulin for renal dysfunction and CRP and IL-6 for low grade inflammation. The main results of the showed that: a) NGAL levels were significantly higher in patients with TI compared to controls (139.1±86.1 vs 51.2±11.8 μg/L, p 0.66, p>0.67 and p>0.81 respectively), the parameters of iron metabolism, ferritin and NTBI (p>0.90 and p>0.95 respectively) the markers of renal dysfunction and/or those of low-grade inflammation (p>0.50). The increased NGAL levels observed in TI patients in this study are in agreement with the elevated expression of NGAL observed in experimental models of thalassemia. We postulate that the induction of NGAL in these patients may represent either a response facilitating the survival of the less damaged thalassemic erythroid precursors, or a consequence due to the abnormal iron regulation in patients with TI.
Cyber threat modeling and validation: port scanning and detection

Port scanning is a commonly applied technique in the discovery phase of cyber attacks. As such, defending against them has long been the subject of many research and modeling efforts. Though modeling efforts can search large parameter spaces to find effective defensive parameter settings, confidence in modeling results can be hampered by limited or omitted validation efforts. In this paper, we introduce a novel, mathematical model that describes port scanning progress by an attacker and intrusion detection by a defender. The paper further describes a set of emulation experiments that we conducted with a virtual testbed and used to validate the model. Results are presented for two scanning strategies: a slow, stealthy approach and a fast, loud approach. Estimates from the model fall within 95% confidence intervals on the means estimated from the experiments. Consequently, the model's predictive capability provides confidence in its use for evaluation and development of defensive strategies against port scanning.
Hybrid data driven drilling and rate of penetration optimization

Abstract Optimizing the drilling process for cost and efficiency requires faster drilling with a higher rate of penetration (ROP). A high ROP usually indicates fast and cost-efficient drilling operations; however, high ROPs may induce unintended events, which may lead to nonproductive time (NPT). In this paper, the proposed hybrid, data-driven optimization system aims to improve the drilling process, maximize the ROP, and minimize NPT. This two-phase system leverages existing drilling data (Phase One) and real-time adjustments (Phase Two) to optimize drilling efficiency through the adjustment of controllable dynamic drilling parameters; weight on bit (WOB), pump flow rate (GPM), and rotary speed (RPM). In the first phase, geological data is queried to generate a model of drilling best practices in a certain field with attention to ROP and NPT. After the top-rated wells are identified, the model recommends adjustments to the controllable dynamic drilling parameters (WOB, GPM, RPM) and produces a cross-plot for each ROP. The optimum ROP parameter for each well is subsequently calculated as a conditioned mean based on proximity to the well as an Inverse Distance Weighting (IDW) interpolation. This phase is completed prior to any drilling activity. The second phase considers the model produced in phase one to run an automated drill-off test. The model directs the driller to deviate for controllable parameters WOB and RPM by a small percentage (0-5%), in a Constrained Random Search (CRS) way. These deviations allow the driller to explore new drilling conditions in small increments; the data is then compiled into a heat-map function of ROP and the model is updated to reflect optimum drilling parameters. The adjustments resulted in faster, safer ROP with a potential 22%+ improvement in efficiency and 15-20% cost-reduction. Lastly, to characterize the relationship between the controllable dynamic parameters (WOB, RPM, GPM) to the ROP, an ANN based empirical relationship was derived.
Work-Family Guilt: The Perspective of Secondary School Athletic Trainers With Children

CONTEXT The literature in athletic training has consistently demonstrated evidence of work-family-life conflict and the potential consequences of that conflict among athletic trainers (ATs) employed in the clinical setting. Parental responsibilities have been suggested to increase the conflict among work, family, and life. The emotions that occur because of this conflict have received little attention and warrant further study. OBJECTIVE To investigate perceptions and antecedents of work-family guilt (WFG) among secondary school ATs with children. DESIGN Phenomenological qualitative study. SETTING Secondary schools. PATIENTS OR OTHER PARTICIPANTS Twenty (13 women, 7 men) ATs with children (range = 1-3) employed in the secondary school setting. All but 3 were married (n = 17) at the time of the study. Their average age was 37 ± 11 years, and they were certified as ATs for 14 ± 11 years. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS Participants completed one-on-one semistructured phone interviews. Multiple-analyst triangulation and peer review were used to establish data credibility. RESULTS General inductive analysis revealed that men and women participants experienced feelings of WFG despite having supportive work environments. The guilt for both sexes stemmed from work interfering with family and an altruistic mindset. Women indicated they felt pressure from their husbands that contributed to feelings of guilt. CONCLUSIONS Secondary school ATs experienced WFG. Trying to balance parental and athletic training duties can cause an emotional response, and ATs' giving and caring nature may be a precursor to guilt.
Deep-learning based hologram classification for molecular diagnostics

Lens-free digital in-line holography (LDIH) is a promising microscopic tool that can overcome the limitations (e.g., field of view) of traditional lens-based microcopy. Images produced by LDIH, however, require extensive computation time to reconstruct objet images from complex diffraction patterns, which limits LDIH utility for point-of-care applications, particularly in resource limited settings. Here, we describe a new deep-learning (DL) based approach to process LDIH images in the context of cellular analyses. Specifically, we captured hologram images of cells surface-labeled with molecular-specific microbeads, and trained neural networks to classify these holograms without reconstruction. Using raw holograms as input, the trained networks could group individual cells according to the number of beads attached. Particularly, VGG-19 pretrained networks showed robust performance even with noisy experimental data. Combined with the developed DL approach, LDIH could be realized as low-cost, portable tool for point-of-care diagnostics.
The Architecture of Complex Systems: Do Core-periphery Structures Dominate?

The article discusses the extent to which complex technological systems possess a core-periphery structure and explores the factors that explain differences between structures. Network representati...