cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Sensing intracellular calcium ions using a manganese-based MRI contrast agent

Calcium ions are essential to signal transduction in virtually all cells, where they coordinate processes ranging from embryogenesis to neural function. Although optical probes for intracellular calcium imaging have been available for decades, the development of probes for noninvasive detection of intracellular calcium signaling in deep tissue and intact organisms remains a challenge. To address this problem, we synthesized a manganese-based paramagnetic contrast agent, ManICS1-AM, designed to permeate cells, undergo esterase cleavage, and allow intracellular calcium levels to be monitored by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Cells loaded with ManICS1-AM show changes in MRI contrast when stimulated with pharmacological agents or optogenetic tools; responses directly parallel the signals obtained using fluorescent calcium indicators. Introduction of ManICS1-AM into rodent brains furthermore permits MRI-based measurement of neural activation in optically inaccessible brain regions. These results thus validate ManICS1-AM as a calcium sensor compatible with the extensive penetration depth and field of view afforded by MRI. There are only few MRI-compatible calcium reporters and they are limited to measuring extracellular calcium levels. Here the authors develop and validate a cell-permeable, manganese-based paramagnetic MRI contrast agent that enables monitoring intracellular calcium signals in vivo in the rat brain.
Issues and Messaging

This chapter examines key issues, tactics, and debates in the 2018 campaigns for NY-19, NY-22, and NY-24.
Zen Master Dōgen: Philosopher and Poet of Impermanence

Zen master Dōgen 道元 (1200–1253), the founder of the Sōtō sect in medieval Japan, is often referred to as the leading classical philosopher in Japanese history and one of the foremost exponents of Mahayana Buddhist thought. His essays, sermons and poems on numerous Buddhist topics included in his main text, the Shōbōgenzō 正法眼蔵 (Treasury of the True Dharma-Eye), reflect an approach to religious experience based on a more philosophical analysis of topics such as time and temporality, impermanence and momentariness, the universality of Buddha-nature and naturalism, and the role of language and emotions in the experience of enlightenment, as well as practical matters such as ethics and the precepts or meditation and daily activity, than is generally found in the writings of most thinkers in the Japanese Zen school. The single main element in Dōgen’s unique approach to Buddhist theory and practice is his emphasis on the multiple meanings of “impermanence” (J. mujō 無常) in personal experience and as the basis for Buddhist metaphysics. In particular, he emphasizes the radical impermanence of each and every phenomenon and the need to attain spiritual realization by acknowledging and identifying, rather than resisting or denying, the ephemeral nature of reality. The notion of impermanence or the transiency of all aspects of human and natural existence has always been a fundamental feature of the Buddhist teaching since the sermons of the Buddha dealing with the doctrines of anātman (“non-self”) and anitya (“impermanence”) regarding the insubstantial, selfless nature of things. However, Dōgen repeatedly cautions against any subtle tendency to view ultimate reality––nirvāṇa or the universal “Buddha-nature” (J. busshō 仏性)––as an eternal realm separable from, or independent of, impermanence. Instead, he stresses that a full, unimpeded, and perpetually renewed experience of impermanence and of the unity of “being-time” (J. uji 有時) is the touchstone and framework of every aspect of Buddhist meditative training and spiritual realization. Other key doctrines related to this are the “spontaneous here-and-now manifestation of Zen enlightenment” (J. genjōkōan 現成公案), the “eternal moment of meditation” (J. gyōji no ima 行事の今), the “immediacy of awakening” (J. nikon 而今), and “impermanence-Buddha-nature” (J. mujō-busshō 無常仏性). In addition to looking at Dōgen’s poetic writings on aesthetic experience, later writings on karma and supernaturalism will be briefly examined for their contributions to his philosophical discussions of mystical awareness and the issues of commitment and responsibility involved in authentic religious practice.
An Overlay Architecture for Pattern Matching

Deterministic and Non-deterministic Finite Automata (DFA and NFA) comprise the fundamental unit of work for many emerging big-data applications, motivating recent efforts to develop Domain-Specific architectures (DSAs) to exploit fine-grain parallelism available in automata workloads. In this paper we present NAPOLY (Non-Deterministic Automata Processor OverLaY), an overlay architecture and associated software that attempts to maximally exploit on-chip memory parallelism for NFA evaluation. In order to avoid an upper bound on NFA size that commonly affects prior efforts, NAPOLY is optimized for runtime reconfiguration, allowing for full reconfiguration in 10s of microseconds. NAPOLY is also parameterizable, allowing for offline generation of a repertoire of overlay configurations with various trade-offs between state capacity and transition capacity. In this paper we evaluate NAPOLY using our proposed state mapping heuristic and the ANMLZoo benchmark suite, and we compare NAPOLY's performance against existing CPU and GPU implementations. To the best of the authors' knowledge this is the first example of a runtime-reprogrammable FPGA-based automata processor overlay.
Spillover effects in adoption of cash transfer programs by Latin American countries

Some of the most effective public programs used in Latin America to reduce poverty and inequality have been non-contributory cash transfers. We examine country-specific characteristics that lead countries to adopt these programs over time using a state-transition spatial probit panel data model that takes into account dependence between countries’ decision to adopt these programs. Intuitively, past adoption of cash transfer programs by other countries might have an impact on the probability that a country implements this type of program. We explore alternative connectivity structures to model dependence, spatial proximity as well as connections based on population migration flows, finding out-migration as most consistent with our sample data and spatial regression specification. For our panel of 17 Latin American countries over the period 2000–2017, we find evidence of dependence between countries in the probability of adoption of conditional cash transfer programs, but no such evidence in the case of unconditional cash transfer programs.
Dynamische OCT − was verraten uns die Gefäße?

Die Weiterentwicklung der optischen Koharenztomografie (OCT) zur dynamischen OCT (D-OCT) erlaubt die gleichzeitige Darstellung der oberflachlichen Blutgefase. Blut ist das wichtigste Transportsystem unseres Korpers, und sowohl durch ausere als auch durch innere Einflusse konnen physiologische Prozesse beeintrachtigt werden. Die D-OCT ermoglicht erstmals die Darstellung dieser Veranderungen anhand der Gefasdichte und Durchblutung. Durch wiederholtes schnelles Messen der gleichen untersuchten Region konnen mithilfe einer speziellen Software Unterschiede in einer Bildserie erfasst werden und so sich bewegende Teilchen, die den Blutbestandteilen entsprechen, bis zu einer Tiefe von 0,5 mm vom statischen Hautgewebe differenziert werden. Die Software bildet den Blutfluss im D-OCT-Bild in roter Farbe als Uberlagerung uber das grau-weis strukturelle Gewebe ab. Mithilfe der D-OCT konnten physiologische Einflusse auf die Durchblutung, wie Vasokonstriktion und Positionsanderung, Unterschiede aufgrund der anatomischen Korperregionen, aber auch therapeutische Effekte, wie z. B. durch die lokale Behandlung mit vasokonstringierendem Brimonidin-Gel (einem selektiven α2-Adrenorezeptor-Agonisten) oder bei der Lasertherapie nachgewiesen werden. Weiterhin fanden sich bestimmte Blutgefasformen nur bei chronisch venosen Ulzera (wie Knauel am Wundrand oder geschlangelte Gefase bei Dermatosklerose), wahrend die Blutgefase bei akuten Wunden eine Haufung von anderen Gefasformen und Verteilungsmustern zeigten. Bei ausgewahlten entzundlichen und autoimmunbedingten Erkrankungen konnten die damit einhergehenden vaskularen Prozesse exemplarisch dargestellt werden. Auch lies sich mit der D-OCT feststellen, dass eine erhohte Blutgefasdichte und gewisse Formen erst mit einer groseren Tumordicke von Melanomen (Breslow-Index) einhergehen. Auserdem konnen die Blutgefase zur Differenzierung sowie zur Therapieauswahl von nicht-melanozytarem Hautkrebs beitragen. Die D-OCT ist jedoch nicht nur ein diagnostisches Gerat, sondern eignet sich auch zur bildgefuhrten Therapie wie der D-OCT-gefuhrten Lasertherapie. Die D-OCT bietet durch die Darstellung von Blutgefasen zahlreiche diagnostische und therapeutische Einsatzmoglichkeiten. Die Blutgefase verraten uns so viel uber physiologische und pathologische Prozesse in unserer Haut, und ihre Darstellung wird in Zukunft eine individuellere, patienten-orientiertere Therapie erlauben, als es bisher moglich ist. So konnten z. B. Ulzera verschiedener Genese mittels D-OCT differenziert werden oder Melanome anhand der Gefasmuster bereits praoperativ risikostratifiziert werden.
Toxicity evaluation following pulmonary exposure to an as-manufactured dispersed boron nitride nanotube (BNNT) material in vivo

Abstract Boron nitride nanotubes (BNNT) are multi-walled nanotubes composed of hexagonal B N bonds and possess many unique physical and chemical properties, creating a rapidly expanding market for this newly emerging nanomaterial which is still primarily in the research and development stage. The shape and high aspect ratio give rise to concern for the potential toxicity that may be associated with pulmonary exposure, especially in an occupational setting. The goal of this study was to assess lung toxicity using an in vivo time course model. The sample was manufactured to be 5 nm wide and up to 200 μm long, with ~50% purity covalently bound with hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) in the sample. Following preparation for in vivo studies, sonication of the material disrupted the longer tubes in the complex and the size distribution in dispersion medium (DM) of the structures was 13–23 nm in diameter and 0.6–1.6 μm in length. Male C57BL/6 J mice were exposed to 4 or 40 μg of BNNT or DM (vehicle control) by a single oropharyngeal aspiration. Pulmonary and systemic toxicity were investigated at 4 h, 1 d, 7 d, 1 mo and 2 mo post-exposure. Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) studies determined pulmonary inflammation (neutrophil influx) and cytotoxicity (lactate dehydrogenase activity) occurred at early time points and peaked at 7 d post-exposure in the high dose group. Histopathological analysis showed a minimal level of inflammatory cell infiltration in the high dose group with resolution over time and no fibrosis, and lung clearance analysis showed ~50% of the material cleared over the time course. The expression of inflammatory- and acute phase response-associated genes in the lung and liver were significantly increased by the high dose at 4 h and 1 d post-exposure. The increases in lung gene expression of Cxcl2, Ccl2, Il6, Ccl22, Ccl11, and Spp1 were significant up to 2 mo but decreased with time. The low dose exposure did not result in significant changes in any toxicological parameters measured. In summary, the BNNT-hBN sample used in this study caused acute pulmonary inflammation and injury at the higher dose, which peaked by 7 d post-exposure and showed resolution over time. Further studies are needed to determine if physicochemical properties and purity will impact the toxicity profile of BNNT and to investigate the underlying mechanisms of BNNT toxicity.
A Model-Free Voltage Control Approach to Mitigate Motor Stalling and FIDVR for Smart Grids

Electric power networks are large and highly nonlinear dynamical systems that present unique challenges to control design. Though there is a large number of dynamic models for power system stability and control, many models are only useful with right assumptions and wrong for other tasks. Moreover, the dynamic behavior of the grid is increasingly complex under the banner of smart grids. These lead to the difficulty of developing appropriate dynamic modeling, and thus an efficient control strategy. To avoid such modeling challenges, this work presents a novel dynamic voltage control strategy based on a model-free control (MFC) approach, requiring no modeling procedure. In particular, it focuses on fault-induced delayed voltage recovery (FIDVR) events, which require complex and accurate dynamic load models to replicate such events. This work utilizes MFC as an online controller to achieve the desired voltage stability under the FIDVR event. The proposed MFC strategy allows simple implementation and low computational cost for efficient mitigation of FIDVR. For benchmarking, a reasonably accurate dynamic performance model is explored. Simulation results with the IEEE 57 bus test network demonstrate the enhanced dynamic voltage profile for load buses having induction motors with the support of reactive power resources.
A Systems Perspective on the Conservation and Erosion of Indigenous Agricultural Knowledge in Central India

Many scholars are concerned that globalization and “scientization” of local management systems threatens the survival of valuable indigenous knowledge of agriculture and agroforestry. This paper addresses such concerns by drawing on a field study of knowledge about tree and crop cultivation in central India to examine dynamics of knowledge system change. It uses concepts from systems studies, including hierarchy, adaptability, connectedness, and scale, to show how parts of indigenous knowledge systems might be more likely to be lost or preserved under various socio-economic circumstances. It then suggests some concrete lessons for those interested in conserving indigenous knowledge: that knowledge is best conserved in situ; that concepts can be more important to communicate and preserve than mere facts or practices; that researchers might identify those parts of a knowledge system most in need of conservation attention; and that technical innovation might allow local-scale indigenous knowledge to interface more effectively with large-scale global technologies.
Ultrasound-Guided Pediatric Inguinal Hernia Repair

Abstract Introduction: Inguinal hernias are among the most common pediatric surgical operations. For pediatric patients a high ligation of the hernia sac is the most common type of repair, which ca...
Thiamine deficiency unrelated to alcohol consumption in high-income countries: a literature review

Thiamine deficiency has been typically associated with alcoholism or as a prevalent problem in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) whose populations rely on staple foods with a low content of thiamine. We conducted a literature review of published and unpublished data to identify relevant adult cases with confirmed thiamine deficiency of nonalcoholic cause in developed countries. We selected 17 reports with 81 adult cases of confirmed thiamine deficiency affecting adult patients with a wide range of ages and underlying conditions (e.g., cancer, gastrointestinal diseases, heart failure, and obesity). Thiamine deficiency may have been caused by disease-related malnutrition, bariatric surgery, chronic use of diuretics, repeated vomiting, lack of thiamine in parenteral nutrition formulas, food insecurity, and reliance on monotonous or restrictive diets. Treatment with intravenous thiamine resulted in partial or complete recovery from the symptoms (cardiac, neurologic, and metabolic disorders) for most patients. The number and variety of symptomatic thiamine-deficient adults identified in this review demonstrates that thiamine deficiency is not exclusive to LMICs and, in high-income settings, is not exclusive to alcoholic patients. In developed countries, this serious but treatable condition can be expected in patients suffering from various medical conditions or following certain dietary patterns.
RF Co-Designed Bandpass Filters/Isolators Using Nonreciprocal Resonant Stages and Microwave Resonators

This article reports on the RF design and practical development of RF co-designed bandpass filters/isolators (BPFIs). They are based on series-cascaded nonreciprocal resonant stages, microwave resonators, and multiresonant cells. The nonreciprocal stages are shaped by an in-parallel cascaded transistor-based path and a transmission line (TL) that result in a zero-phase resonance in the forward direction and high isolation (IS) in the reversed one. The operating principles of the nonreciprocal resonant stage are presented through circuit analysis and coupled-resonator diagrams (CRDs) that facilitate their design with coupled-resonator-based filter design methods. Various CRD-synthesized examples of low- and high-order transfer functions with and without transmission zeros are shown. They demonstrate the applicability of the proposed method for alternative-type of filtering responses with and without gain in the forward direction and high levels of IS in the reversed one. For proof-of-concept demonstration purposes, five prototypes were designed, manufactured, and measured at $S$ -band.
A Fast and Exact Motif Enumeration Algorithm for Dynamic Networks

Network motifs have been widely used in the analysis of various biological networks, including protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks, transcription regulation networks (TRNs), and metabolic networks. Counting network motif involves expensive enumeration of sub-patterns and graph isomorphism. Many protein-protein interaction data-bases are readily available online and are constantly updated over a period of time by either adding or removing proteins and the respective interactions between them. There exists many motif enumeration algorithms that can be applied to protein-protein interaction databases. However, most existing algorithms run enumeration over the entire network every time a change is made to the network. This is not only computationally expensive but also highly inefficient as the size of the network and motif increases. In this work, we propose an exact and efficient algorithm for enumerating network motifs by utilizing only updated edges and vertices in a network. We demonstrate how our algorithm can quickly and robustly update the frequency of different sizes of network motifs in dynamic networks. Experimental results show that our approach is successful in reducing the computational time by eliminating overlapped subgraphs. Run-time monitoring of network motif distributions is very important in numerous practical domains where large networks are subject to localized changes, which is efficiently provided by the proposed algorithm.
Fighting for the Man in the Blue Overalls—Daily Sun as a Project in Demarginalisation

We located the emergence of South Africa’s Daily Sun against the background of colonisation of the print media and the more recent economic embeddedness of Black and alternative media in duopolisti...
The suicide note as a genre: Implications for genre theory

Abstract Although most of the work on genre analysis has attended to academic and professional genres, we attempt to explore and extend key issues in genre theory through a move structure analysis of suicide notes, a non-academic, non-professional genre, which has been the focus of interdisciplinary research. These studies, however, have not considered the suicide note as a genre. We propose a move-based account of this genre despite a variety of challenges these texts pose for the framework, including the lack of a discourse community, great variety in length, and the lack of any identifiable obligatory moves or fixed ordering of moves. The results show that not all genres can be characterized in terms of obligatory and optional moves, and we discuss an alternative way for capturing genre membership. We also show that a genre can exhibit patterns of co-occurrence for moves and steps even when it lacks an identifiable linear order. A computational analysis of a set of lexico-grammatical features of the texts shows that these features found in previous research on suicide notes are actually concentrated in particular moves. This paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of this study for genre theory.
3 “What thin Partitions Sense from Thought Divide”: Toward a New Cognitive Psychophysics

Publisher Summary This chapter provides an overview of new cognitive psychophysics. The psychophysical judgments of loudness reflect nothing but some measure of excitation in the auditory system. Sensory psychophysics deals in large measure with the (again, in principle) equally well-defined correspondences between external stimuli and resulting perceptual representations. By linking sensory meanings to their stimulus objects, sensory psychophysics provides, in Fodor's (1981) terms, a kind of semantic theory of perception—a limited one to be sure, a semantic minitheory—of the sort that perhaps is needed more broadly if cognitive psychology is not only to interpret behavior in terms of the internal manipulations of abstract symbols but to relate those hypothetical symbols-being-hypothetically-manipulated to their less hypothetical referents.
OPTIMAL UCAV PATH PLANNING UNDER MISSILE THREATS

Abstract The problem of path planning for unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs) in the presence of radar-guided surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) is treated. The problem is formulated in the framework of the model, which includes three subsystems: the aircraft, the radar, and the missile. Based on this model, the problem of UCAV path planning is formulated as a minimax optimal control problem, with the aircraft lateral acceleration serving as control. Necessary conditions of optimality for this minimax problem are derived and utilized as a basis for an efficient numerical solution. Illustrative examples are considered that confirm standard flying tactics of “denying range, aspect, and aim,” by yielding flight paths that “weave” to avoid long exposures.
Code-switching in preschool bilingual children

Abstract Code-switching refers to the alternating use of two or more languages, either within a sentence (intrasentential) or between sentences (intersentential). Because code-switching is governed by grammatical rules, both language systems are presumed to be active while producing mixed sentences. Code-switching occurs in discourse of fluent and nonfluent bilinguals alike, although intrasentential switches are often thought to be illustrative of the level of bilingualism or comfort with another language (e.g., Poplack, 1980 ). This chapter focuses on code-switching in preschool children, with a special emphasis on the linguistic context, comparisons between intra- and intersentential switching, the effect of level of bilingualism, differences in production and comprehension of sentences, and experimental demands. To this end, we present new data from 36 Spanish-English bilingual children between the ages of 3 and 5, and tie the results to the theoretical framework of Kroll and her colleagues (e.g., Kroll & Stewart, 1994 ; Sholl, Sankaranarayanan, & Kroll, 1995 ) on conceptual and lexical links between words in sentence processing.
Simplified self-adapting skip lists

The Simplified Self-Adapting Skip List, a practical new extension of the Skip List data structure, is designed for use with data that exhibit bias, that is, a nonuniform distribution of queries to set elements. The structure observes an initially unknown degree of bias in queries to a data set and adapts itself to a consistently nearly-optimal configuration, improving search efficiency and speed. By modifying the original Skip List design in intuitive ways, self-optimization is achieved while maintaining an extreme simplicity of description, implementation, and operation unmatched by previous dynamic Skip Lists. The additional memory, time, and conceptual overheads introduced by this structure over the original Skip List are considerably less than in previous dynamic designs, but search speed is comparable or superior, making the SSASL better suited than its predecessors for operations in which time or memory efficiency is critical.
It’s Not Me, It’s You: Perceptions of Partner Body Image Preferences Associated With Eating Disorder Symptoms in Gay and Heterosexual Men

This study explored perceptions of partner body image preferences and symptoms of disordered eating in gay and heterosexual men. Participants were male college students (n = 201; M age = 20.46), and over one third identified as gay. We compared discrepancies between participants' current and ideal body type and participants' current body type and the body type they believed they should have to attract a dating partner. For gay men, the discrepancy between their current body and the body they believed they should have to attract a dating partner was significantly greater than the discrepancy between their current and ideal body types. In gay and heterosexual men, the discrepancy between current body and the body they believed they should have to attract a dating partner predicted eating, shape, and weight concern. Results suggest that perceptions of partner body image preferences may contribute to eating disorder pathology in men.
Hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus differentially supports lumbar and renal sympathetic outflow in water-deprived rats.

The present study sought to determine whether the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN) contributes in a time-dependent manner to the differential patterning of lumbar and renal sympathetic nerve activity (SNA) in water-deprived rats. Mean arterial blood pressure (MAP) and both lumbar SNA (LSNA) and renal SNA (RSNA) were recorded simultaneously in control, 24 and 48 h water-deprived rats, and the PVN was inhibited bilaterally with microinjection of the GABAA agonist muscimol (100 pmol in 100 nl per side). Inhibition of the PVN significantly decreased RSNA in 48 h water-deprived rats but not in 24 h water-deprived or control rats (48 h, −17 ± 4%; 24 h, −2 ± 5%; control, 4 ± 6%; P < 0.05). In addition, injection of muscimol significantly decreased LSNA in 48 and 24 h water-deprived rats but not in control rats (48 h, −41 ± 4%; 24 h, −14 ± 6%; control, −3 ± 2%; P < 0.05). Interestingly, the decrease in LSNA was significantly greater than the decrease in RSNA of 24 and 48 h water-deprived rats (P < 0.05). Inhibition of the PVN also significantly decreased MAP to a greater extent in 48 and 24 h water-deprived rats compared to control rats (48 h, −34 ± 5 mmHg; 24 h, −26 ± 4 mmHg; control, −15 ± 3 mmHg; P < 0.05). When 48 h water-deprived rats were acutely rehydrated by giving access to tap water 2 h before experiments, inhibition of the PVN with muscimol did not alter LSNA (−12 ± 8%) or RSNA (7 ± 4%) but did produce a small decrease in MAP (−15 ± 4 mmHg) that was not different from control rats. In a parallel set of experiments, acute rehydration of 48 h water-deprived rats significantly attenuated the increased Fos immunoreactivity in PVN neurones that project to the spinal cord or rostral ventrolateral medulla. Collectively, the present findings suggest that PVN autonomic neurones are synaptically influenced during water deprivation, and that these neurones differentially contribute to LSNA and RSNA in water-deprived rats.
Consumer acceptance of calcium chloride-marinated top loin steaks

In this study, a multi-city, retail consumer survey was used to determine whether marinating in calcium chloride at 72 h postmortem improves consumer and trained sensory panel evaluations of beef loin steaks, Warner-Bratzler shear force (WBSF) values, and the value of CaCl2 marinades to improve tenderness in a national consumer market. Boneless strip loin subprimals (n = 8) were obtained from eight, not electrically stimulated, USDA Standard-grade carcasses, halved, and alternating ends were marinated with 200 mM CaCl2 at 5% (wt/wt) or not injected (controls). Strip loins were then aged for 7 d in vacuum packages at 2 degrees C before WBSF, trained or consumer evaluations. Four trained research teams traveled on the same 7-d period to collect the consumer data. Consumers (n = 393; minimum of 10 consumers/panel, three panels/store, three stores/city, and four cities) varying widely in income level, education, and gender evaluated the steaks for tenderness, beef flavor, juiciness, and overall quality in each of three supermarkets in major cities (Los Angeles, CA; Baltimore, MD; Chicago, IL; and Dallas, TX). The average improvement (P < 0.05) in WBSF for steaks marinated with CaCl2 was 1.39 kg. Trained panelists scored marinated steaks higher (P < 0.05) than control steaks in sustained juiciness (6.00 vs. 5.09), beef flavor (6.31 vs. 5.64), and overall mouth-feel (5.98 vs. 4.93). Consumers also rated marinated steaks higher (P < 0.05) than control steaks in juiciness (5.98 vs. 5.45), beef flavor (6.70 vs. 6.05), tenderness (6.75 vs. 5.89), and overall quality (6.68 vs. 6.20). Consumers in this study would pay dollar 0.95/kg more for steaks marinated with CaCl2, adding dollar 21.64 to the value of a loin from tough carcasses. These results indicate that consumers can differentiate tenderness levels and are willing to pay a premium for calcium chloride marinating to effectively improve the quality of beef loin steaks.
Energy Redistribution in Diatomic Molecules on Surfaces

Translational and internal degrees of freedom of a scattered beam of NO molecules from a Pt (111) single crystal surface were measured as a function of scattering angle and crystal temperature in the range 450–1250K. None of the three degrees of freedom were found to fully accommodate to the crystal temperature, the translational degree being the most accommodated and the rotational degree of freedom the least. A precursor state model is suggested to account for the incomplete accommodation of translational and vibrational degrees of freedom as a function of crystal temperature and incident beam energy. The vibrational accommodation is further discussed in terms of a competition between desorption and vibrational excitation processes, thus providing valuable information on the interaction between vibrationally excited molecules and surfaces. Energy transfer into rotational degrees of freedom is qualitatively discussed.
Empirical Green's function estimation for lossy systems: analysis of the volume of relevance for the origin of ambient fluctuations

SUMMARY From a theoretical perspective, perfect Green’s function recovery in diffusive systems is based on cross-correlation of time-series measured at distinct locations arising from background fluctuations from an infinite set of uncorrelated sources, either naturally occurring or engineered. Clearly such a situation is impossible in practice, and a relevant question to ask, then, is how does an imperfect set of noise sources affect the quality of the resulting empirical Green’s function (EGF)? We narrow down this broad question by exploring the effect of source location and make no distinction between whether the noise sources are natural or man made. Following the theory of EGF recovery, the only requirement is that the sources are uncorrelated and endowed with the same (or nearly so) frequency spectrum and amplitude. As such, our intuition suggests that noise sources proximal to the observation points are likely to contribute more to the Green’s function estimate than distal ones. However, in what manner and over what spatial extent our intuition is less clear. Thus, in this short note we specifically ask the question, ‘Where are the noise sources that contribute most to the Green’s function estimate in heterogeneous, lossy systems?’ We call such a region the volume of relevance (VoR). Our analysis builds upon recent work on 1-D homogeneous systems by examining the effect of heterogeneity, dimensionality and receiver location in both one and two dimensions. Following the strategy of previous work in the field, the analysis is conducted out of mathematical convenience in the frequency domain although we stress that the sources need not be monochromatic. We find that for receivers located symmetrically across an interface between regions of contrasting diffusivity, the VoR rapidly shifts from one side of the interface to the other, and back again, as receiver separation increases. For the case where the receiver pair is located on the interface itself, the shifting is less rapid, and for moderate-to-high diffusivity contrasts, the VoR remains entirely on the more diffusive side over receiver separations up to two to three skin depths based on the high-diffusivity value. Finally, because diffusivity plays a role analogous to resistivity in electromagnetic induction problems, our results suggest that the VoR for the latter is dominated by the air region when the receivers are located on the Earth’s surface—a finding that demonstrates the minimal impact of subsurface noise sources for EGF estimation from surface-based electromagnetic geophysical experiments.
A high speed reconfigurable gate array for gigahertz applications

This paper describes the implementation of the next generation of a scalable SiGe FPGA in the latest IBM 8HP SiGe process (fT = 210GHz) that serves as an interleaving and de-interleaving block in a high speed reconfigurable data acquisition system. In this paper, different generations of SiGe configurable blocks (basic cells) are presented and measured. The latest generation has a 94% reduction in power consumption (from 71mW to 4.2mW) and an 83% reduction of the propagation delay (from 238ps to 42ps) compared to the first generation design. To demonstrate the SiGe FPGA's capabilities of handling GHz signals, the SiGe FPGAs are configured as a multiplexer (MUX), de-multiplexer (DEMUX) and pseudo-SERDES. For the IBM 8HP process, the MUX, DEMUX and pseudo-SERDES can achieve a transmission rate of 28Gbps. For the previous IBM 7HP case, the 4:1 multiplexer runs at a transmission rate of 8Gbps. With these design results, the SiGe FPGA is able to process GHz signals such as S and K microwave bands.
The hybrid course: Merging on-line instruction and the traditional classroom

The efficacy of on-line learning environments has received considerable attention in recent years. Generally, researchers have found little impact of virtual learning environments on learning outcomes. With a few exceptions, however, these studies have focused upon distance learning courses where students enter the course without expectations of significant amounts of face-to-face contact with the instructor(s). Information technology, and particularly Web-based multimedia, increasingly offers opportunities to transfer content delivery and other associated activities from face-to-face settings to on-line venues. However, in order for this transference of content and process to be effective in courses recognized as face-to-face courses, students must find the virtual environment appealing. They must also achieve learning outcomes at least as high as those achieved in traditional class settings. The research reported upon herein demonstrates the utility of on-line learning environments in traditional classes both as an efficient means for executing activities previously tethered to the classroom setting and as a means to allow the pursuit of higher levels of learning.
Mutants of Escherichia coli with increased fidelity of DNA replication.

To improve our understanding of the role of DNA replication fidelity in mutagenesis, we undertook a search for Escherichia coli antimutator strains with increased fidelity of DNA replication. The region between 4 and 5 min of the E. coli chromosome was mutagenized using localized mutagenesis mediated by bacteriophage P1. This region contains the dnaE and dnaQ genes, which encode, respectively, the DNA polymerase (alpha subunit) and 39 exonucleolytic proofreading activity (epsilon subunit) of DNA polymerase III holoenzyme, the enzyme primarily responsible for replicating the bacterial chromosome. The mutated bacteria were screened for antimutator phenotype in a strain defective in DNA mismatch repair (mutL), using a papillation assay based on the reversion of the galK2 mutation. In a mutL strain, mutations result primarily from DNA replication errors. Among 10,000 colonies, seven mutants were obtained whose level of papillation was reduced 5-30-fold. These mutants also displayed decreased mutation frequencies for rifampicin or nalidixic acid resistance as well as for other markers. Mapping by P1 transduction and complementation showed each to reside in dnaE. These observations support the idea that the mutants represent antimutators which replicate their DNA with increased fidelity. Mutation rates were reduced in both mutL and mutT backgrounds, but mutagenesis by ultraviolet light was not significantly affected, suggesting that the antimutator effect may be largely restricted to normal DNA replication.
Can you really do instructional development on 2¢ a day?

It was originally intended to put out a plea for case studies concerning instructional development activities at all levels of education at this point of the first Journal issue. By coincidence Kent Gustafson has presented this plea in much more stirring terms than we could possibly achieve. Notice that Kent is calling for Developers to publicize successful I.D. efforts — what better means than through your own Journal? Kent, say it for us…
Estimates of CO2 from fires in the United States: implications for carbon management.

Fires emit significant amounts of CO2 to the atmosphere. These emissions, however, are highly variable in both space and time. Additionally, CO2 emissions estimates from fires are very uncertain. The combination of high spatial and temporal variability and substantial uncertainty associated with fire CO2 emissions can be problematic to efforts to develop remote sensing, monitoring, and inverse modeling techniques to quantify carbon fluxes at the continental scale. Policy and carbon management decisions based on atmospheric sampling/modeling techniques must account for the impact of fire CO2 emissions; a task that may prove very difficult for the foreseeable future. This paper addresses the variability of CO2 emissions from fires across the US, how these emissions compare to anthropogenic emissions of CO2 and Net Primary Productivity, and the potential implications for monitoring programs and policy development. Average annual CO2 emissions from fires in the lower 48 (LOWER48) states from 2002–2006 are estimated to be 213 (± 50 std. dev.) Tg CO2 yr-1 and 80 (± 89 std. dev.) Tg CO2 yr-1 in Alaska. These estimates have significant interannual and spatial variability. Needleleaf forests in the Southeastern US and the Western US are the dominant source regions for US fire CO2 emissions. Very high emission years typically coincide with droughts, and climatic variability is a major driver of the high interannual and spatial variation in fire emissions. The amount of CO2 emitted from fires in the US is equivalent to 4–6% of anthropogenic emissions at the continental scale and, at the state-level, fire emissions of CO2 can, in some cases, exceed annual emissions of CO2 from fossil fuel usage. The CO2 released from fires, overall, is a small fraction of the estimated average annual Net Primary Productivity and, unlike fossil fuel CO2 emissions, the pulsed emissions of CO2 during fires are partially counterbalanced by uptake of CO2 by regrowing vegetation in the decades following fire. Changes in fire severity and frequency can, however, lead to net changes in atmospheric CO2 and the short-term impacts of fire emissions on monitoring, modeling, and carbon management policy are substantial.
Analysis of thermomechanical interactions in a miniature solder under cyclic fatigue loading

This paper discusses the possible thermomechanical interaction (coupling) phenomena of a miniature solder system in electronic packaging application similar to those which have been identified for some metallic material systems in aerospace and nuclear structures under cyclic fatigue loads at different frequencies. The main objective is to investigate the heat generated by the viscoplastic deformations, and vice versa, especially on the thermal transient and the gradient induced viscoplastic ratchetting response of cyclic creep. A literature review was conducted to focus on the temperature-dependent, strain rate-sensitive stress-strain response of the eutectic or near-eutectic lead-tin (Pb37-Sn63 or Pb40-Sn60) solder alloys. The result was used to develop and apply a simple overstress constitutive theory for modeling the coupled, isotropic thermoviscoplasticity of the eutectic lead-tin solder alloy. A fully coupled heat transfer and mechanical finite element model is used to simulate possible thermal-mechanical interactions of temperature rise and viscoplastic ratchetting of the miniature solder systems in a C4/BGA chip scale package (CSP) under cyclic fatigue loads at different frequencies. The results of analysis are discussed to compare between a coupled thermomechanical model and that of a pure mechanical model.
The Pal elements in the upstream glucokinase promoter exhibit dyad symmetry and display cell-specific enhancer activity when multimerised

The upstream glucokinase (βGK) promoter has previously been shown to contain two 9-bp sequences, termed the Pal motifs, that are conserved in humans, rats and mice. These motifs are necessary for expression of the βGK promoter in pancreatic beta cell lines and pituitary corticotrope cell lines. DNA probes containing the Pal motifs bind cell-type-specific protein complexes, but these motifs have not been completely characterised. Methylation interference and ultraviolet-crosslinking analysis were utilised to characterise, at the single nucleotide level, sites of protein binding within the elements themselves. To determine the function of these elements, mutational analysis of the βGK promoter and of multimerised GK promoter sequences was performed. Both Pal elements are 14 bp in length and have dyad symmetry. However, while the Pal-1 element is a perfect inverted repeat (GTCACCA-TGGTGAC), the Pal-2 element (GTCACCA-TAGAAAC) is an imperfect repeat. Ultraviolet-crosslinking analysis using nuclear extracts prepared from hamster insulinoma tumour (HIT) cells revealed that the three resolvable complexes that bind to the Pal-1 and Pal-2 elements contain different ratios of three proteins of different size (~90, 110 and 150 Mr). Mutation of a single nucleotide binding site abrogates βGK promoter activity. Multimerised repeats of the Pal-1 element augment transcription in HIT cells, but not in baby hamster kidney (BHK) cells. These results suggest that different combinations of three proteins of different size bind to the Pal elements, probably as homodimers and heterodimers. Together, these results indicate that the βGK promoter contains two novel 14-bp elements that, when multimerised, exhibit enhancer activity specific to neuroendocrine cells.
The effect of suppression of offgassing on the rheometry of thermotropic liquid crystalline polymers

Thermotropic liquid crystalline polymers commonly develop a bubble texture at time scales necessary to perform low‐rate rheological experiments. We have fabricated a capillary rheometer capable of high‐sensitivity (relatively low‐rate) measurements under a hydrostatic pressure adequate to suppress formation of visible bubbles. Vectra A (a copolyester of 73% HBA and 27% HNA) exhibited a transient reduction in viscosity at low rates that is independent of strain history and dependent only on time in the melt; no change in inherent viscosity was observed despite a threefold change in viscosity. The transient, which was not observed at high rates on the time scale of the experiment, may reflect changes in the defect structure. The flow curve for a given thermal history (time in the melt) exhibited a flattening at low to intermediate rates, suggestive of the flow curves reported for lyotropic systems. This result is qualitatively in agreement with rotational rheometer measurements known to be contaminated by o...
A note on parallel depth first search

The subject of this note is the parallel algorithm for depth first searching of a directed acyclic graph by Ghosh and Bhattacharjee. It is pointed out that their algorithm does not always work. A counter example is given. This paper also states the necessary and sufficient condition for the algorithm to fail, or to work correctly.
Self-conditioned fields for large-eddy simulations of turbulent flows

An alternative foundation is developed for the large-eddy simulation (LES) of turbulent flows. It is based on ‘self-conditioned fields’, for example, the mean velocity field conditional on a discrete representation of the filtered velocity field. It is shown that the self-conditioned velocity field minimizes the residual kinetic energy, and that, with the ideal model, the method yields the correct one-time behaviour as determined by the Navier–Stokes equations. The approach is extended to the self-conditioned probability density function (PDF) of compositions. Compared to LES formulations based on the filtered velocity and the filtered density function, the self-conditioned field approach has several advantages: for laminar flow, and in the direct-numerical-simulation limit, the residual fluctuations are zero or exponentially small; full account is taken of the probability distribution of turbulent fields; there are no commutation issues; and there are no issues with filtering at walls, where the self-conditioned velocity is zero. The exact evolution equations for the self-conditioned velocity and composition PDF are derived. Basic models are presented, and the development of improved models is discussed.
Vibration and stability of prestressed shells

Abstract Thin shells are widely used structural elements and are sometimes subjected to time-dependent loads after they have already acquired some prestress. The response of such a shell can be very different from that when the prestress is absent. The general methods of calculation of the response of the shell are discussed. The stability limit of the shell is viewed as a special result obtained in the free vibration analysis. An example of a typical containment shell of a nuclear power plant, housing the reactor, is worked out in detail.
Small RNAs in the nucleus and cytoplasm of hela cells

The possible relationship between two small RNas (A and B), which are quickly labeled and are briefly found in the cytoplasm of HeLa cells, and two of the small, metabolically stable nuclear RNAs (C and D, nomenclature of ref. 1), has been studied. They were compared by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, actinomycin D chases of [3H]uridine pulses, and two-dimensional fingerprinting of their ribonuclease T1 digests. Taken together, the data suggest that species A and B, found in the cytoplasm, are precursor forms of nuclear RNAs C and D, respectively.
3. A Partial Independence Item Response Model for Surveys with Filter Questions

In many surveys, responses to earlier questions determine whether later questions are asked. The probability of an affirmative response to a given item is therefore nonzero only if the participant responded affirmatively to some set of logically prior items, known as “filter items.” In such surveys, the usual conditional independence assumption of standard item response models fails. A weaker “partial independence” assumption may hold, however, if an individual's responses to different items are independent conditional on the item parameters, the individual's latent trait, and the participant's affirmative responses to each of a set of filter items. In this paper, we propose an item response model for such “partially independent” item response data. We model such item response patterns as a function of a person-specific latent trait and a set of item parameters. Our model can be seen as a generalized hybrid of a discrete-time hazard model and a Rasch model. The proposed procedure yields estimates of (1) p...