cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Glutamate receptor mechanisms in human epileptic dysplastic cortex

Abstract Developmental disorders of neuronal migrations in the human brain are referred to as `cortical dysplasia', and current knowledge of cortical dysplasia is limited to varied pathologic descriptions which lack specific investigations of glutamate receptor mechanisms. In this study, immunocytochemistry was used to study the expressions of glutamate receptor subunit proteins for NMDAR2A/B, NMDAR1 and AMPA Glu-R2/3 in human brain resected for intractable epilepsy associated with cortical dysplasia. Seventeen patients were studied with batch-matched glutamate subunit reagents on adjacent 30-μm sections. The most striking microscopic abnormalities identified in cresylecht violet stains were cortical dyslaminations, disoriented neurons, and unexpectedly, very dark Nissl body staining of those dysplastic neurons. NMDAR2A/B intensely labeled dysplastic neurons, showing staining in both the cell bodies and dendritic profiles. However, non-dysplastic neurons were not immunoreactive to NMDAR2A/B. Dysplastic neurons were also labeled by antibodies selective to NMDAR1. Both dysplastic neurons and non-dysplastic neurons were immunoreactive to AMPA GluR2/3. Our results suggest that the epileptic hyperexcitability of dysplastic cortical regions may result, at least in part, from the heteromeric coassembly and expressions of NMDAR2A/B subunits with selectively expressed NMDAR1 splice variants in dysplastic neurons. AMPA receptors are probably also essential but not sufficient to explain the `epileptic' properties of these dysplastic neurons. A longer, detailed report of some of these findings have been previously published ( Ying et al., 1998 . J. Neuropathol. Exp. Neurol. 57, 47–62).
The Development of an Entry Level Occupational Therapy Doctorate in the USA: A Case Illustration

The passing of Resolution J in 1998 in the USA mandated that entry into the profession be at the post baccalaureate level as of January 1, 2007. Several occupational therapy programs have started to offer entry level Doctor of Occupational Therapy (OTD) degree. The arrival of this clinical doctorate was not without questions. Much of the confusion and discussion has been impacted by a limited understanding of this new degree. Using the case of the OTD at Creighton University, we provide an overview of the entry level OTD program in USA. We particularly describe the brief history, program goals and the curriculum of the entry level OTD program at Creighton and examine its graduate outcomes. Challenges and future development of the OTD programs at Creighton University as well as in the USA are discussed. It is hoped that such an illustration will offer guidance and inspiration to others in the national and international communities to develop or refine similar occupational therapy educational programs.
COMPARISON OF ALPHA‐ AND BETA‐CAROTENE CONTENT OF SUPERMARKET VERSUS ROADSIDE STAND PRODUCE

Roadside stand and supermarket vegetables and fruit were analyzed for their alpha- and beta-carotene content. The produce was obtained from a major local supermarket chain and three roadside stands. Eleven vegetables and one fruit were sampled during a ten week period between July and September of 1985. Significant differences at the 0.05 level for beta-carotene were observed between supermarket and roadside stand produce for Swiss chard, red tomatoes and green peppers with roadside stands having higher concentrations for all. Alpha-carotene was shown to be non-significant at the 0.05 level for all produce.
Equity Purchases by Insiders and the Filing of Antidumping Petitions

The paper presents the first analysis of insider trading in the context of public policy implementation. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proscribes trading by corporate insiders upon material information that is not yet in the public domain. Although the SEC interprets what constitutes material information, it has historically focused on earnings, mergers, and acquisitions. Using a panel of US firms from 1985–87, the authors disclose a significant relationship between the filing of an antidumping petition and insider buying in the two months preceding the filing month. This suggests that the SEC should expand its focus to include public policy.
Ethos, Logos, Pathos or Sender, Message, Receiver?: A Problematological Rhetoric for Information Technologies

In this article I contrast the view of communication in Shannon and Weaver (1949) with Michel Meyer's rhetorical approach to communication. Meyer's critique of philosophy is founded on the recognition that every statement is an answer to a question arising from a particular problem. If something can be questioned, it can be debated, and how we debate any issue is a matter of rhetorical practices, all of which involve ethos, logos, and pathos. These concepts, familiar from Aristotelian rhetoric, have their counterparts in information science: sender, message, receiver. Unlike the ethos, logos, and pathos of rhetoric, the concepts of information science are rooted in a technical understanding of sender markedly different from the ethical ethos of classical antiquity, an ontologically based propositional understanding of message, and an abstract understanding of receiver as human or machine with a straightforward, statable, interpretable, and answerable question. Meyer's rhetorical approach to communication ...
High temperature oxidation of Nb, NbC and Ni3Nb and oxygen enhanced crack growth

Previous studies have shown that oxygen increased the rates of crack growth in Ni base superalloys at high temperatures (> 800 K) by up to four orders of magnitude over those observed in an inert environment for alloys such as inconel 718, Rene-95 and x 750. In this study, high temperature oxidation studies of pure Nb, NbC and Ni{sub 3}Nb using XPS were undertaken (a) to provide direct confirmation of the oxidation of NbC, (b) to explore the possible role of Ni{sub 3}Nb and (c) to assess the relative reactivity of the latter two phases, along with Nb, with oxygen. Nb, NbC and Ni{sub 3}Nb were oxidized as a function of temperature and constant oxygen exposure, and the results are presented in this communication.
What We Talk About When We Talk About Fat

There has been an upsurge of interest in the adipocyte coincident with the onset of the obesity epidemic and the realization that adipose tissue plays a major role in the regulation of metabolic function. The past few years, in particular, have seen significant changes in the way that we classify adipocytes and how we view adipose development and differentiation. We have new perspective on the roles played by adipocytes in a variety of homeostatic processes and on the mechanisms used by adipocytes to communicate with other tissues. Finally, there has been significant progress in understanding how these relationships are altered during metabolic disease and how they might be manipulated to restore metabolic health.
mTrust: discerning multi-faceted trust in a connected world

Traditionally, research about trust assumes a single type of trust between users. However, trust, as a social concept, inherently has many facets indicating multiple and heterogeneous trust relationships between users. Due to the presence of a large trust network for an online user, it is necessary to discern multi-faceted trust as there are naturally experts of different types. Our study in product review sites reveals that people place trust differently to different people. Since the widely used adjacency matrix cannot capture multi-faceted trust relationships between users, we propose a novel approach by incorporating these relationships into traditional rating prediction algorithms to reliably estimate their strengths. Our work results in interesting findings such as heterogeneous pairs of reciprocal links. Experimental results on real-world data from Epinions and Ciao show that our work of discerning multi-faceted trust can be applied to improve the performance of tasks such as rating prediction, facet-sensitive ranking, and status theory.
Thermoreactive compaction of an alumina — Polymethylsiloxane composition

An investigation was carried out of the thermoreactive compaction of a composition of alumina with polymethylsiloxane, the technological parameters being varied. Before a heat treatment the open porosity of specimens containing 20% PMS is 0.8%, the bending strength 260 kgf/cm2, and the cold-crushing strength 1070 kgf/cm2.
Positive definiteness of the elasticity tensor of a residually stressed material

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the positive definiteness of the elasticity tensors associated with linear hyperelastic materials that support a residual stress. The motivation is that positive definiteness of the elasticity tensor is a central issue in establishing uniqueness of solution for boundary value problems. The uniqueness theorems of classical elasticity rely on the physically motivated condition that the work done to deform a body out of the reference configuration should be positive, with the associated result that the classical elasticity tensor is positive definite. For residually stressed bodies, it is not clear whether the condition that the elasticity tensor be positive definite is a reasonable one. It seems physically well motivated that the work done on a residually stressed body to deform it with small strains out of its unloaded configuration should be positive. But it also seems unlikely that the work will be positive pointwise: the residual stress is not uniform, and therefore must take both compressive and tensile values in the body; so it is plausible that, in any particular deformation, there may be points in the body at which the work may be negative if the deformation is such that it relieves the residual stress at the point. Even if the condition that the work be positive in a deformation is accepted, it does not translate directly into the condition that the elasticity tensor be positive definite because, instead of one, there are several elasticity tensors that are commonly used in the description of residually stressed materials, and each of these elasticity tensors is a function of the residual stress. In this paper, work and energy arguments are used to derive conditions on the elasticity tensors that assure that the total work to deform the body will be positive. The relationships of these derived conditions to the positive definiteness of the elasticity tensors are established. By means of an example, it is shown that in some cases the elasticity tensors associated with the first and second Piola-Kirchhoff stresses indeed fail to be positive definite.
A rapid and accurate device for calibrating the Warburg respirometer.

Abstract A simplified instrument for calibrating the Warburg respirometer has been developed. This calibrator enables one to determine rapidly and accurately the volume of the manometer and attached vessel. The volumes obtained with the calibrator were compared with those obtained by other methods, including calibration with mercury.
αB-crystallin is expressed in non-lenticular tissues and accumulates in Alexander's disease brain

Rosenthal fibers (RFs) are abnormal inclusions within astrocytes, characteristic of Alexander's disease. We have previously isolated a 22 kd protein component of RFs from Alexander's disease brain. By Western blotting, we detected its equivalent in several rat organs, with the highest level in heart, and in a human astrocytoma cell line (U-373MG). A cDNA library established from U-373MG was screened with an anti-RF protein antibody. A partial cDNA clone encoding the lens protein alpha B-crystallin was isolated. The anti-RF protein antibodies react with lens alpha B-crystallin. Furthermore, the distribution of alpha B-crystallin mRNA in rat organs is consistent with the Western blots. Therefore, alpha B-crystallin is not lens-specific and it can accumulate in large amounts in astrocytes in pathological conditions.
Studies of the dynamic properties of Langmuir probes II: Experimental results☆

Abstract Results obtained with the pulsed probe, the high-frequency probe and the static probe-time varying plasma methods are presented. The studies showed that for the highly negative probe the influence of the displacement current spike due to the probe-plasma sheath capacitance is dominant. The magnitude of this capacitance was found to increase with increasing plasma density as can be expected. Large delays in the collection of electrons by the probe were observed for final probe potentials close to plasma potential. The magnitude of the delay effect decreases for increasing plasma density and/or increasing value of the mobility of the charged particles in the gas. The results obtained with the pulsed probe and the high-frequency probe were consistent, while the phenomena observed during the static probe-time varying plasma method could easily be explained.
2215 – Cumulative exposure to work-related incidents and current posttraumatic stress disorder in new york city's first responders

Introduction Several questions still exist in the literature on the relationship between cumulative exposure to work-related incidents and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in First Responders (FR). Objectives To address three unanswered questions in the field. (1) Are different cumulative exposure scoring algorithms similarly related to PTSD? (2) Is PTSD associated only with incidents rated as severe and traumatic? (3) Can we identify cut-off scores of cumulative exposure that maximize sensitivity and specificity to predict PTSD? Aims To better characterize the relationship between cumulative exposure and PTSD in FR. Methods The association between exposure and PTSD was examined with logistic and linear regression and with receiver operating characteristic analysis in 349 FR. Results (1) The strength of the association between PTSD and total cumulative exposure indexes varied across different scoring algorithms. (2) Compared to total cumulative exposure indexes and to sub-scores of exposure to non-traumatic and/or less severe incidents, sub-scores indexing exposure to severe traumatic events only were more strongly and significantly associated with PTSD. (3) The use of two cut-off scores maximizes sensitivity and specificity to predict PTSD. Conclusion (1) The relationship between current PTSD and cumulative exposure is partially dependent on the approach used to quantify exposure. (2) Focusing on the assessment of cumulative exposure to severe traumatic events is sufficient to predict PTSD, and might be more useful and effective in research and clinical decision-making. (3) Sensitivity and specificity of exposure scores might help improve secondary prevention (early detection and effective intervention) of individuals at risk.
Alteration of the electroencephalogram during bromotrifluoromethane exposure.

Dogs and monkeys immobilized with tubocurarine were exposed to 70 or 80% bromotrifluoromethane, (CBrF3) and electroencephalograms were recorded. EEGs were recorded during induction of the CBrF3 effect and during sensory stimulation. EEGs recorded during CBrF3 exposure were compared with corresponding air-breathing controls and animals exposed to 1% bromochlorotrifluoroethane (halothane), a chemical congener of CBrF3 with some similar pharmacologic properties. The most significant findings were (1) dominance of the EEGs by 6–9 Hz waves beginning 2–3 min after beginning exposure to CBrF3, and (2) a nearly normal susceptibility of the EEG to activation by auditory and photic stimuli during exposure to CBrF3. Several lines of evidence were explored which suggested that the central nervous system effects of CBrF3 may be the result of the induction of functional changes at the rhinencephalic level.
Influence of beam efficiency through the patient-specific collimator on secondary neutron dose equivalent in double scattering and uniform scanning modes of proton therapy

Purpose: Conventional proton therapy facilities use double scattering nozzles, which are optimized for delivery of a few fixed field sizes. Similarly, uniform scanning nozzles are commissioned for a limited number of field sizes. However, cases invariably occur where the treatment field is significantly different from these fixed field sizes. The purpose of this work was to determine the impact of the radiation field conformity to the patient-specific collimator on the secondary neutrondose equivalent. Methods: Using a WENDI-II neutron detector, the authors experimentally investigated how the neutrondose equivalent at a particular point of interest varied with different collimator sizes, while the beam spreading was kept constant. The measurements were performed for different modes of dosedelivery in proton therapy, all of which are available at the Midwest Proton Radiotherapy Institute (MPRI): Double scattering, uniform scanning delivering rectangular fields, and uniform scanning delivering circular fields. The authors also studied how the neutrondose equivalent changes when one changes the amplitudes of the scanned field for a fixed collimator size. Results: The secondary neutrondose equivalent was found to decrease linearly with the collimator area for all methods of dosedelivery. The relative values of the neutrondose equivalent for a collimator with a 5 cm diameter opening using 88 MeV protons were 1.0 for the double scattering field, 0.76 for rectangular uniform field, and 0.6 for the circular uniform field. Furthermore, when a single circle wobbling was optimized for delivery of a uniform field 5 cm in diameter, the secondary neutrondose equivalent was reduced by a factor of 6 compared to the double scattering nozzle. Additionally, when the collimator size was kept constant, the neutrondose equivalent at the given point of interest increased linearly with the area of the scanned proton beam. Conclusions: The results of these experiments suggest that the patient-specific collimator is a significant contributor to the secondary neutrondose equivalent to a distant organ at risk. Improving conformity of the radiation field to the patient-specific collimator can significantly reduce secondary neutrondose equivalent to the patient. Therefore, it is important to increase the number of available generic field sizes in double scattering systems as well as in uniform scanning nozzles.
Early Identification of Learning Disabilities Using the Meeting Street School Screening Test

Analysis of patterns of performance on the subtests of the Meeting Street School Screening Test administered in first grade was expected to be a better predictor of later placement in a learning disabilities program than the recommended cut-off score. The hypothesis was not supported. Use of subtest scatter predicted learning disability placements less accurately than chance.
Development of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease after orthotopic liver transplantation for cryptogenic cirrhosis.

Many subjects with cryptogenic cirrhosis have underlying nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). The natural history of NASH-related cryptogenic cirrhosis after orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) is not well defined. A primarily retrospective study of patients with the clinical histological phenotype of NASH-related cirrhosis undergoing OLT was performed. Data were compared with 2 sets of age- and weight-matched controls with (1) primary biliary cirrhosis or primary sclerosing cholangitis or (2) alcoholic liver disease. After OLT, all patients were managed by a standard immunosuppressive protocol. Liver biopsies were performed at 6 and 12 months after OLT and at 1- to 2-year intervals thereafter, as well as when liver enzyme levels were elevated enough to warrant diagnostic biopsy. Twenty-seven subjects with cryptogenic cirrhosis and a clinical histological phenotype of NASH and 3 patients with a long-standing diagnosis of NASH before OLT were included. The 30-day perioperative mortality was 1 in 30 patients. During a median follow-up of 3.5 ± 2.7 years, 2 additional patients died of sepsis. There was a time-dependent increase in the risk for allograft steatosis that approached 100% by 5 years compared with only an approximately 25% incidence of steatosis in the control groups (P < .009, log-rank test). On multivariate analysis, only the cumulative steroid dose correlated with time to development of allograft steatosis. Three patients developed histological progression from hepatic steatosis to steatohepatitis. Of these, 1 patient developed progressive fibrosis. Four patients experienced at least 1 episode of acute cellular rejection; however, no patient developed chronic rejection or graft failure. In conclusion, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease occurs frequently after OLT in patients with the phenotype of NASH-related cirrhosis. Despite the frequent histological recurrence of disease, clinical outcomes are similar to those of other groups of patients undergoing OLT. (Liver Transpl 2001;7:363-373.)
Broad and unexpected phenotypic expression in Greek children with steroid-resistant nephrotic syndrome due to mutations in the Wilms’ tumor 1 (WT1) gene

Mutations in the Wilms' tumor suppressor gene 1 (WT1), most commonly within exons 8 or 9 or intron 9, are found in cases with the overlapping conditions of Denys-Drash and Frasier syndromes, as well as in patients with steroid-resistant nephrotic syndrome (SRNS). This study investigated the presence of WT1 gene mutations in cases with childhood SRNS, along with an evaluation of their clinical outcome. Twenty-seven Greek children with sporadic (19 cases) and familial (8 cases) SRNS were tested. Four phenotypically female patients with sporadic SRNS were found to carry de novo WT1 mutations, including two cases with p.R394W, and one case each with p.R366H, or n.1228+5G>A. Karyotype analysis found 46XX in three cases, but 46XY in one. No phenotype-genotype correlations were apparent in the WT1 gene positive cases since their clinical presentation varied broadly. Interestingly, one patient with a pathological WT1 nucleotide variation responded fully to combined therapy with cyclosporine A and corticosteroids. This study further illustrates that investigation of WT1 gene mutations is clinically useful to support definitive diagnosis in children presenting with SRNS in order to direct the most appropriate clinical management.
Particle image velocimetry study of wing-tip vortices

Conclusions In this paper, the wear of a control linkage was considered. The existence of LCOs in a wing-aileron system with freeplay nonlinearity was shown. The wear in the wing-aileron system with freeplay has also been shown to be a coupled problem; i.e., increased wear results in increased amplitude of the LCO and applied load, which in turn, gives risejo increasing wear rate. Similar feedback phenomena exist in the development of cracks, where crack growth rates increase with crack length. The rate at which the aging process accelerates is the critical issue for maintenance, and accurate prediction depends on the sophistication of the aeroelastic model and the wear model. Here, a two-degree-of-freedom model of an unbalanced aileron, and a wear model that ignores the effect of impact that will occur as the system traverses the freeplay gap, have been implemented. Acknowledgment The first author was supported by the Ministry of Culture and Higher Education, Iran.
Stereospecificity of deoxycytidine triphosphate synthesis with the ribonucleotide reductase of Lacfobacillus leichmannii

Abstract Stereospecificity of the reduction of cytidine triphosphate to 2′-deoxycytidine triphosphate with a purified enzyme from Lactobacillus leichmannii was examined by means of proton magnetic resonance. The reaction product formed in D2O was converted to deoxycytidine, and the proton magnetic resonance spectrum recorded at 100 MHz in 99.8% D2O was compared with similar spectra for unlabeled deoxycytidine, cytidine, and cytosine arabinoside. Comparisons of integrated intensities indicated that the enzyme product was monodeuterated at the 2′-position. Assignment of coupling constants by double resonance experiments and comparisons with the model compounds indicated that the deuterated compound was (2′R)-[2′-2H]-deoxycytidine. Thus, the reductase reaction is stereospecific, the hydroxyl group on C-2′ being replaced by deuterium with retention of configuration.
Architecting ambient intelligence systems

Ambient Intelligence (AmI) systems refer to ubiquitous computing with focus on human experiences. The AmI ideas are based on the premise that if environment around individuals can be personalized for the current needs of an individual, then the lives can be more productive and enjoyable. New and existing technologies will be used to personalize spaces and experiences in AmI environments. The goal of AmI is to make computing and technology transparent and invisible to the individual. AmI is characterized by unobtrusive and mostly invisible technologies working together, anticipating the needs, and personalizing the environment and experiences for individuals. This paper presents new ideas in developing AmI infrastructure for deploying AmI services. The proposed system architecture is based on characterizing the roles and rights of individuals in the current environment and designing components and services that respond to these roles. The generalized architecture can be used to adapt physical as well as virtual spaces to fit individual preferences. A general architecture is necessary to move AmI from a collection of "cool gadgets" to an ambient and aware service focused on personalization for individuals.
Principal component analysis-based filtering improves detection for Affymetrix gene expression arrays

Gene expression array technology has reached the stage of being routinely used to study clinical samples in search of diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers. Due to the nature of array experiments, which examine the expression of tens of thousands of genes simultaneously, the number of null hypotheses is large. Hence, multiple testing correction is often necessary to control the number of false positives. However, multiple testing correction can lead to low statistical power in detecting genes that are truly differentially expressed. Filtering out non-informative genes allows for reduction in the number of null hypotheses. While several filtering methods have been suggested, the appropriate way to perform filtering is still debatable. We propose a new filtering strategy for Affymetrix GeneChips®, based on principal component analysis of probe-level gene expression data. Using a wholly defined spike-in data set and one from a diabetes study, we show that filtering by the proportion of variation accounted for by the first principal component (PVAC) provides increased sensitivity in detecting truly differentially expressed genes while controlling false discoveries. We demonstrate that PVAC exhibits equal or better performance than several widely used filtering methods. Furthermore, a data-driven approach that guides the selection of the filtering threshold value is also proposed.
Utilization of Barritt color reaction for studying synaptosomal creatine phosphokinase.

The assay for creatine phosphokinase activity depending upon the color formation from creatine was reinvestigated. Its sensitivity was improved to 5 nmol of creatine. The method gave satisfactory Michaelis constants for both creatine phosphate and adenosine-dephosphate and was useful in detecting low creatine phosphokinase activity.
Onset and Stability of Convection in Porous Media: Visualization by Magnetic Resonance Imaging.

Using magnetic resonance imaging, we examine the onset and stability of porous media convection (PMC) in packings of solid spheres. Nominally, PMC resembles Rayleigh-Benard convection, except that there should be no vertical vorticity. We find pinned defects in convection patterns for disordered sphere packings. Roll-like structures form in regularly packed media, with rapid relaxation to stable patterns within the expected stable range. The size of up flow regions decreases relative to down flow regions with increasing Rayleigh number, producing a novel time dependent state for Ra/Ra{sub {ital c}}{gt}6.
Research dynamics: Measuring the continuity and popularity of research topics

Abstract Dynamic development is an intrinsic characteristic of research topics. To study this, this paper proposes two sets of topic attributes to examine topic dynamic characteristics: topic continuity and topic popularity. Topic continuity comprises six attributes: steady, concentrating, diluting, sporadic, transforming, and emerging topics; topic popularity comprises three attributes: rising, declining, and fluctuating topics. These attributes are applied to a data set on library and information science publications during the past 11 years (2001–2011). Results show that topics on “web information retrieval”, “citation and bibliometrics”, “system and technology”, and “health science” have the highest average popularity; topics on “h-index”, “online communities”, “data preservation”, “social media”, and “web analysis” are increasingly becoming popular in library and information science.
A Reconfigurable Low-Power BDD Logic Architecture Using Ferroelectric Single-Electron Transistors

This paper presents ferroelectric single-electron transistors (SETs) with tunable tunnel barriers and their application in a reconfigurable binary decision diagram (BDD) logic architecture. In this experimental demonstration, the SETs can be programmed into short, open, and Coulomb blockade modes to construct the BDD fabric. We experimentally demonstrate the decision node, consisting of two SETs, with robust path switching characteristics. Harnessing such programmability and path switching features, a nonvolatile reconfigurable low-power BDD logic is achieved. A ferroelectric dielectric-based split gate configuration and a differential biasing scheme are utilized to share the programming resources and reduce the energy consumption. Peripheral interface circuits are designed to recover the output signal swing for cascaded BDD logic demonstration and to provide noise immunity. The simulation shows that with sufficient circuitry complexity or a latched dynamic CMOS interface, the proposed BDD architecture achieves higher power efficiency than CMOS at the same throughput delay.
Evolution of structure in the softening/melting regime of miscible polymer mixing

Structure development in the softening/melting processing regime is investigated using the model miscible blend poly(styrene-co-acrylonitrile) (SAN)/poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA). Feed materials of four different particle sizes are compounded to study their effects upon structure development. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy is used to help determine the normalized sample variance, a quantitative measure of mixing. The normalized sample variance is determined both as a function of sample size and as a function of feed particle size in an effort to assess the characteristic size scale(s) present in the blend at short mixing times. Results of these experiments indicate that the distribution of size scales in the softening regime is at least bimodal. Optical examination of pigmented mixtures reveals that this multimodality is due to the operation of the Scott/Macosko sheeting mechanism of morphology development, which was previously shown to be active in immiscible blends. This is contrary to the currently accepted laminar mixing model, which postulates the formation of a striated mixture while ignoring the softening/melting regime.
Functional groups modulate the sensitivity and electron transfer kinetics of neurochemicals at carbon nanotube modified microelectrodes

The surface properties of carbon-based electrodes are critically important for the detection of biomolecules and can modulate electrostatic interactions, adsorption and electrocatalysis. Carbon nanotube (CNT) modified electrodes have previously been shown to have increased oxidative sensitivity and reduced overpotential for catecholamine neurotransmitters, but the effect of surface functionalities on these properties has not been characterized. In this study, we modified carbon-fiber microelectrodes (CFMEs) with three differently functionalized single-wall carbon nanotubes and measured their response to serotonin, dopamine, and ascorbic acid using fast-scan cyclic voltammetry. Both carboxylic acid functionalized and amide functionalized CNTs increased the oxidative current of CFMEs by approximately 2–6 fold for the cationic neurotransmitters serotonin and dopamine, but octadecylamine functionalized CNTs resulted in no significant signal change. Similarly, electron transfer was faster for both amide and carboxylic acid functionalized CNT modified electrodes but slower for octadecylamine CNT modified electrodes. Oxidation of ascorbic acid was only increased with carboxylic acid functionalized CNTs although all CNT-modified electrodes showed a trend towards increased reversibility for ascorbic acid. Carboxylic acid-CNT modified disk electrodes were then tested for detection of serotonin in the ventral nerve cord of a Drosophila melanogaster larva, and the increase in sensitivity was maintained in biological tissue. The functional groups of CNTs therefore modulate the electrochemical properties, and the increase in sensitivity from CNT modification facilitates measurements in biological samples.
An extension of the runge-kutta method for nth order initial value problems

Abstract A Runge-Kutta algorithm for an nth order initial value problem (IVP) is developed by means of simple modifications of the algorithm used for the first-order IVP. Auxiliary state variables are used to convert the nth order IVP into a system of first-order IVPs. Consequently, the corresponding computer program for the nth order is developed by modification of the program used for the first-order IVP in a suitable fashion. It is shown that the method is straightforward and its computer program is extremely compact. For illustration, the program is applied to a fourth-order IVP involving nonlinear terms.
Implicit interest indicators

Recommender systems provide personalized suggestions about items that users will find interesting. Typically, recommender systems require a user interface that can ``intelligently'' determine the interest of a user and use this information to make suggestions. The common solution, ``explicit ratings'', where users tell the system what they think about a piece of information, is well-understood and fairly precise. However, having to stop to enter explicit ratings can alter normal patterns of browsing and reading. A more ``intelligent'' method is to useimplicit ratings, where a rating is obtained by a method other than obtaining it directly from the user. These implicit interest indicators have obvious advantages, including removing the cost of the user rating, and that every user interaction with the system can contribute to an implicit rating.Current recommender systems mostly do not use implicit ratings, nor is the ability of implicit ratings to predict actual user interest well-understood. This research studies the correlation between various implicit ratings and the explicit rating for a single Web page. A Web browser was developed to record the user's actions (implicit ratings) and the explicit rating of a page. Actions included mouse clicks, mouse movement, scrolling and elapsed time. This browser was used by over 80 people that browsed more than 2500 Web pages.Using the data collected by the browser, the individual implicit ratings and some combinations of implicit ratings were analyzed and compared with the explicit rating. We found that the time spent on a page, the amount of scrolling on a page and the combination of time and scrolling had a strong correlation with explicit interest, while individual scrolling methods and mouse-clicks were ineffective in predicting explicit interest.
Stability of a restricted hartree-fock-like wave function under the removal of a symmetry restriction

It is shown that if a system can be described approximately by a Slater determinant with doubly-occupied symmetry-adapted orbitals, the variational wave function obtained from this determinant by “splitting” one-or-more orbitals to allow “different orbitals for different spins” may or may not choose to “split” the orbitals, but the variational wave function obtained as the appropriate-symmetry projection of this wave function will always choose to split one-or-more orbitals and lower the expectation value of the energy-per-electron, if the system is finite. A comment is made on the significance of a wave function, with a complex splitting parameter, recently introduced by Harris.
Microbial activity, oxygen status and fermentation in the gut of the irregular sea urchin Echinocardium cordatum (Spatangoida: Echinodermata)

Microbial activity in the gut of the detrivore irregular sea urchin Echinocardium cordatum (Pennant) was studied by measurements of oxygen profiles, fermentation end products, C/N ratios, pH and concentrations of sulphide and sulphate in the gut segments, including the nodules of the intestinal caecum. The highest oxygen flux and consumption, and highest concentrations of short-chained fatty acids, and the lowest pH values occurred in the anterior stomach segments, including the anterior caecum. The C/N ratios indicate synthesis of microbial biomass in the caeca. The concentration of sulphate was high in the anterior stomach segments, whereas sulphide was only detectable in the nodules of the intestinal caecum. The anterior and intestinal caeca were the major sites for microbial activity, and oxidation of acetate and propionate produced in the two caeca corresponded to at least 9% of the total respiration of the sea urchin. Microbial fermentation, especially in the anterior caecum, seems to be important for the metabolism of E. cordatum, allowing the sea urchin to utilise refractile carbohydrates. The functions of the intestinal caecum are probably both residual fermentation and oxidation of accumulated sulphide.
Wepman Test of Auditory Discrimination: What Does it Discriminate?.

Abstract This study investigated auditory discrimination as a function of ethnic group membership within the same socioeconomic status (SES). Subjects were 126 randomly selected six-year-old students attending schools in the lower SES community of southeast San Diego. Only students with no known speech or hearing defects and of normal intelligence were included. They were assigned to one of three categories: Black, Chicano, or Anglo. Subjects were administered four tests in a counterbalanced design: the Wepman, the Gross, and the Ott. The latter two were developed for use with Black dialect and Spanish-speaking youngsters, respectively. The ANOVA results indicated a reliable difference between the main effects of the groups (F=40.34,p
Chalk-Ex—Fate of CaCO3 particles in the mixed layer: Evolution of patch optical properties

[1] The fate of particles in the mixed layer is of great relevance to the global carbon cycle as well as to the propagation of light in the sea. We conducted four manipulative field experiments called “Chalk-Ex” in which known quantities of uniform, calcium carbonate particles were injected into the surface mixed layer. Since the production term for these patches was known to high precision, the experimental design allowed us to focus on terms associated with particle loss. The mass of chalk in the patches was evaluated using the well-calibrated light-scattering properties of the chalk plus measurements from a variety of optical measurements and platforms. Patches were surveyed with a temporal resolution of hours over spatial scales of tens of kilometers. Our results demonstrated exponential loss of the chalk particles with time from the patches. There was little evidence for rapid sinking of the chalk. Instead, horizontal eddy diffusion appeared to be the major factor affecting the dispersion of the chalk to concentrations below the limits of detection. There was unequivocal evidence of subduction of the chalk along isopycnals and subsequent formation of thin layers. Shear dispersion is the most likely mechanism to explain these results. Calculations of horizontal eddy diffusivity were consistent with other mixed layer patch experiments. Our results provide insight into the importance of physics in the formation of subsurface particle maxima in the sea, as well as the importance of rapid coccolith production and critical patch size for maintenance of natural coccolithophore blooms in nature.
An arctic circle theorem for Groves

In earlier work, Jockusch, Propp, and Shor proved a theorem describing the limiting shape of the boundary between the uniformly tiled corners of a random tiling of an Aztec diamond and the more unpredictable 'temperate zone' in the interior of the region. The so-called arctic circle theorem made precise a phenomenon observed in random tilings of large Aztec diamonds.Here we examine a related combinatorial model called groves. Created by Carroll and Speyer as combinatorial interpretations for Laurent polynomials given by the cube recurrence, groves have observable frozen regions which we describe precisely via asymptotic analysis of a generating function. Our approach also provides another way to prove the arctic circle theorem for Aztec diamonds.
A Simple Evaporation Process for Producing Improved Interlevel Via Resistance

Auger analysis, microsectioning techniques, and electrical measurements were used to isolate the cause of high electrical resistance between two levels of aluminum-copper interconnection wiring in integrated circuits. Microsectioning and scanning electron microscopic (SEM) examination of high resistance interconnections (vias) after heat treatment illustrated the existence of a continuous, interfacial film which limited the diffusion of CuAI2 intermetallics at 400°C and 450°C. This interfacial film was attributed to oxide regrowth during substrate heating in vacuum prior to metallization. An easily adapted evaporation process was developed to minimize the oxide regrowth during the interval between sputter cleaning and electron-beam evaporation of the Al-Cu. This process, termed modified heat process (MHP), produces improved interlevel via resistance that falls typically within specification without sinter. Auger analysis was employed to characterize the lower Al via hole surface after selected process steps in via formation. An Auger sputter profiling technique was used to measure the amount of interfaciail oxide resulting from the MHP and the standard deposition process formerly used to form interlevel vias. This analysis showed the MHP reduced the interface oxide thickness 30 to 50 percent (~2.0 nm for the standard process versus ~ 1.4 nm or less for the MHP). SEM examination of via cross sections produced by the MHP confirmed the reduction of the interfacial oxide thickness.
Identification of functional domains of the IR2 protein of equine herpesvirus 1 required for inhibition of viral gene expression and replication

The equine herpesvirus 1 (EHV-1) negative regulatory IR2 protein (IR2P), an early 1,165-amino acid (aa) truncated form of the 1487-aa immediate-early protein (IEP), lacks the trans-activation domain essential for IEP activation functions but retains domains for binding DNA, TFIIB, and TBP and the nuclear localization signal. IR2P mutants of the N-terminal region which lack either DNA-binding activity or TFIIB-binding activity were unable to down-regulate EHV-1 promoters. In EHV-1-infected cells expressing full-length IR2P, transcription and protein expression of viral regulatory IE, early EICP0, IR4, and UL5, and late ETIF genes were dramatically inhibited. Viral DNA levels were reduced to 2.1% of control infected cells, but were vey weakly affected in cells that express the N-terminal 706 residues of IR2P. These results suggest that IR2P function requires the two N-terminal domains for binding DNA and TFIIB as well as the C-terminal residues 707 to 1116 containing the TBP-binding domain.
Recovery from link failures in a Smart Grid communication network using OpenFlow

In this paper, we design and evaluate algorithms for fast recovery from link failures in a smart grid communication network, addressing all three aspects of link failure recovery: (a) link failure detection, (b) algorithms for computing backup multicast trees, and (c) fast backup tree installation. To address (a), we design link-failure detection and reporting mechanisms that use OpenFlow to detect link failures when and where they occur inside the network. OpenFlow is an open source framework that cleanly separates the control and data planes for use in network management and control. For part (b), we formulate a new problem, Multicast Recycling, that computes backup multicast trees that aim to minimize control plane signaling overhead. We prove Multicast Recycling is at least NP-hard and present a corresponding approximation algorithm. Lastly, two control plane algorithms are proposed that signal data plane switches to install pre-computed backup trees. An optimized version of each installation algorithm is designed that finds a near minimum set of forwarding rules by sharing rules across multicast groups, thereby reducing backup tree install time and associated control state. We implement these algorithms in the POX OpenFlow controller and evaluate them using the Mininet emulator, quantifying control plane signaling and installation time.
Cultured Skin Substitutes: A Review

Skin substitutes composed of cultured cells and biopolymers provide alternative materials for study of skin biology and pathology, treatment of skin wounds, safety testing of consumer products, and...
Predicting 10-year alcohol use trajectories among men age 50 years and older.

Objective To describe common 10-year drinking trajectories followed by men age 50 years or older and identify risk factors for those trajectories. Design Longitudinal data were used to derive a semiparametric group-based model. Participants Men from the Health and Retirement Study age 50–65 years in 1998 who completed three or more of the six interviews conducted from 1998 to 2008, including our 1998 baseline interview. Measurements Biannual data on number of drinks per drinking day were used to derive drinking trajectories. Risk factors included baseline age, race, ethnicity, education, marital status, retirement, smoking, binge drinking, vigorous exercise, body mass index, depression, pain, self-reported health, and chronic disease. Results The best-fitting model included consistent infrequent drinkers and nondrinkers (40.6% of cohort), increasing drinkers (5.5%), decreasing drinkers (7.6%), consistent at-risk drinkers (15.6%), and consistent moderate drinkers (30.7%). Adjusted logistic regression models comparing men with similar 1998 drinking levels who subsequently followed different trajectories identified significant risks associated with age, education, smoking, binge drinking, depression, pain, and self-reported health. To illustrate, odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) suggest that baseline infrequent drinkers were less likely to follow an increasing drinkers trajectory if they were older (OR: 0.57, 95% CI: 0.38–0.82) and smoked cigarettes (OR: 0.47, 95% CI: 0.30–0.74). Baseline drinkers were less likely to follow a decreasing trajectory if they reported more than 12 years of education (OR: 0.58, 95% CI: 0.42–0.82) and thought that their health was excellent or very good (OR: 0.54, 95% CI: 0.39–0.76). Conclusion Only 30.7% of older men in this cohort were moderate drinkers throughout the follow-up. Many older men may benefit from brief counseling on the risks and benefits of drinking.
“We Can Do It”: a study of the Women’s Field Army public relations efforts

Abstract This article examines the public relations activities of the Women’s Field Army (WFA)—a branch of the American Society for the Control of Cancer (now the American Cancer Society). The analysis of the WFA’s work suggests that non-profit organizations engaging in volunteer recruitment and public education should examine the current socio-economic climate, and explore using both media relations and interpersonal communications techniques to disseminate messages.