cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of the protective effects of histamine and 5-hydroxytryptamine receptor antagonists against the lethal toxicity induced by oxygen free radicals in rats.

Generation of oxygen free radicals (OFR) via intravenous administration of xanthine plus xanthine oxidase [X + XO], to Inactin® anesthetized rats produced intense respiratory distress. This effect led to death of more than 90% of the animals within a 120 min observation period. Several reports documented that the two autocoids, 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) and histamine (H), can induce pulmonary and bronchiolar constriction and pulmonary edema. Hence, our present studies were conducted to investigate whether antagonists of 5-HT and histamine could provide protection from the lethal toxicity of the free radicals. Pretreatment of the rats with pyrilamine and cimetidine, H1 and H2 receptor antagonists, respectively, prolonged the duration of survival, but it failed to enhance net survival rate. In contrast, pretreatment of the rats with nonspecific 5-HT antagonists, methysergide and cyproheptadine, and a selective 5-HT2 receptor antagonist, ketanserin, markedly enhanced the survival rate to 80–90%. These obser...
Do demographic correlates of ethical perceptions generalise to non‐American samples: a study of managers in India

Investigates perceived ethical behaviour by surveying 150 Indian managers, recognizing that perceived ethicality of behaviour differs depending on an individual’s life experience and developed values. Hypothesizes that people over 40, women, and more highly educated people will interpret ethical business practice more stringently. Records the methodology used, including the demographic breakdown of the sample group. Uses Likert scales and t‐tests to assess the data. Finds significant gender, age and educational differences in perceived ethical behaviour. Recommends further research into the influence of other variables and wonders if national differences – this study was one of a very few that did not use Norther American samples – accounts for or affects ethical perceptions.
Isolation of a Virulent Newcastle Disease Virus from Confiscated LaSota Vaccine

SUMMARY Vials of Newcastle disease vaccine labeled as LaSota were confiscated by the Arizona Division of Customs and Border Protection officials. Two different avian type 1 paramyxoviruses were isolated from all three vials of vaccine submitted to the National Veterinary Services Laboratories. The LaSota strain of avian paramyxovirus type 1 virus was isolated from all three vials and analyzed by nucleotide sequence analysis. A virulent Newcastle disease virus was also present in all three vials, but in low concentration. The virulence of the Newcastle disease virus was characterized by the intracerebral chicken pathogenicity index chicken inoculation assay but could not be determined by nucleotide sequence analysis from the virus isolated from embryonating chicken eggs. The intracerebral chicken pathogenicity index value for the isolated Newcastle disease virus was 1.55. Strains of Newcastle disease virus with intracerebral pathogenicity indexes significantly above 1.0 have been found to selectively kill ...
Design of the Modern Inquiring System. XII. Interpreting the Cognitive and Evaluative Aspects of Immanuel Kant's Aesthetics: Implications for System Science

Immanuel Kant's (1790) Critique of Judgment is a manual on aesthetics. It contains many references on the uses of quantitative and qualitative functions. Thus, a reading of Kant provides a conceptual and epistemological framework to refine the modern inquiring system, in particular, as it pertains to the ability of the measurement function to evaluate the abstract attributes of inexact-soft domains which are so prevalent in the social and system sciences. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Structure and Function of the Normal Testis and Epididymis

The structure and function of the testis and epididymis are described, emphasizing the general similarities and specific differences between various species and humans. Current concepts of spermato...
COMPARATIVE CRAZING AND CHIPPING OF WET AND DRY PROCESS CAST IRON ENAMELS1

Heat shock tests are run on commercial samples of cast iron stove parts enameled by both the wet and dry process. These enamels applied by the wet process are much more resistant to temperature change than those enamels applied by the dry process.
Characterization of α1-adrenoceptors which increase cyclic AMP accumulation in rat cerebral cortex

Abstract The pharmacological properties of the α-adrenoceptors which increase cyclic AMP accumulation were studied in slices of rat cerebral cortex after inactivation of β-adrenoceptors with bromoacetylalprenololmenthane. Norepinephrine increased basal cyclic AMP accumulation 2-fold, and potentiated the effect of adenosine 5-fold. The K i and EC 50 values for antagonists and agonists for both the basal and potentiated responses were generally similar to those for α 1 -adrenoceptor-stimulated inositol phosphate accumulation in the same preparation. However, significant differences in the potencies of all agonists, and the antagonists phentolamine and BE2254 were observed between the basal and potentiated cyclic AMP responses. The differences in agonist potencies did not appear to be due to the existence of a receptor reserve. Norepinephrine, epinephrine, α-methylnorepinephrine and 6-fluoronorepinephrine were full agonists, while methoxamine and phenylephrine were partial agonists in both systems. The results suggest that norepinephrine increases cyclic AMP accumulation in rat cerebral cortex through α 1 -adrenoceptors similar to those increasing phosphatidylinositol metabolism in the same tissue.
Magnetic measurements of the upper and lower critical fields of oxygen-deficient YBa2Cu3O7- delta single crystals.

We present dc-magnetization measurements in fields up to 5 T on oxygen-deficient ({ital T}{sub {ital c}}{congruent}60 K) YBa{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub 7{minus}{delta}} single crystals. The upper-critical-field slopes are {minus}2.0 and {minus}8.7 T/K and the lower critical fields at 5 K are 83 and 25 Oe for fields perpendicular and parallel to the Cu-O planes, respectively. The upper-critical-field slope anisotropy is not substantially different from the anisot- ropy found for the 90-K crystals. The {ital H}{sub {ital c}1} values are, however, much smaller for the 60-K crystals. We explain these results through a model in which the chains do not contribute significantly to the coupling between the Cu-O planes but rather serve as a charge reservoir for the superconductivity that occurs in the planes.
The adsorption of cycloparaffins on Ru(001) as studied by temperature programmed desorption and electron stimulated desorption

Abstract : The adsorption of C2H6, and the cycloparaffins C3H6, C6H12, and C8H16 on Ru(001) at 80 K has been studied using LEED, temperature programmed desorption, and ESDIAD (Electron Stimulated Desorption Ion Angular Distributions). An aim of these studies has been to examine the relationship between ESDIAD ion desorption angles and bond angles in weakly adsorbed species having known internal structure. Fractional monolayers of C2H6 and C3H6 both yield ESDIAD patterns due to H(+) ions desorbed in wide cones centered on the surface normal, consistent with adsorption into mobile, disordered layers. In contrast, a fractional monolayer of C6H12 yields a hexagonal H(+) ESDIAD pattern. These results indicate the azimuthal orientation of the C-H bonds and are consistent with a simple model of C6H12 adsorption. In thermal desorption studies, the weakly adsorbed layer in contact with the substrate is easily distinguished from condensed multilayers. Mass analysis of ESD ions reveals that the only ESD ion product is H(+) for hydrocarbon coverages 1 monolayer. For multilayers of adsorbed C6H12 and C8H16, the ESD ion products have a mass distribution similar to the gas phase mass spectrometer cracking pattern. For all these fragments, the ESD cross sections are approx. = or 2 x 10 to the -17th power sq cm. (Author)
Isolation and assay of radioactive urinary kynurenic and xanthurenic acids

Abstract A procedure is described for the isolation, assay, and radioactive measurement of kynurenic acid-C 14 and xanthurenic acid-C 14 isolated from human urine samples following the intravenous administration of l -tryptophan-3-C 14 without loading doses of unlabeled tryptophan. The compounds were isolated from urine and purified by a combination of ion-exchange chromatography on Dowex 50W columns and thin-layer chromatography on cellulose Selectacel. Recovery of known compounds ranged from 85 to 100%. The purity of the separated compounds was determined by comparison of their radioactivity in two solvent systems and by comparison of the absorption spectra of the urinary compounds eluted from the thin-layer plates with authentic kynurenic and xanthurenic acids.
Effect of Cortisone on Response to Endotoxin in Mature Rabbits.

Summary1. Treatment with cortisone prevented the early reaction of prostration and death produced by an intravenous injection of endotoxin in mature rabbits. 2. In some of the rabbits pretreated for 3 days with large doses of cortisone, bilateral cortical necrosis of the kidneys occurred within 24 hours after endotoxin. However, when a single injection of cortisone was given 6 hours before endotoxin, protection against prostration and death was demonstrable without the subsequent development of renal necrosis. 3. The early lethal reaction caused by small amounts of endotoxin following an injection of colloidal iron saccharate was prevented by cortisone. Cortisone did not protect against the development of renal cortical necrosis in these animals.
Significance of cytopathologist's review of Pap tests screened as negative for intraepithelial lesion or malignancy that are positive for high-risk human papillomavirus.

Introduction Cytopathologist's review of Papanicolaou tests (PTs) screened by cytotechnologists as negative for intraepithelial lesion or malignancy (NILM) that are positive for high-risk human papillomavirus (hrHPV+) may be a useful quality control measure. Materials and methods From January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2012 all NILM/hrHPV+ PTs underwent cytopathologist's review before report issuance as per routine quality control procedures. HrHPV status was known at the time of screening and at final review. The rate of upgraded diagnoses resulting from the cytopathologist's review were examined. Two-year follow-up was obtained. Results Cytopathologist's review upgraded 250 of 1282 PTs (19.5%) by 1 step to atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance and 13 (1%) were upgraded by 2 steps or more to low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion or higher. During the same period, significantly fewer NILM PTs (of unknown hrHPV status) were upgraded by 2 steps or more as a result of random 10% rescreening by cytotechnologists (0.2%, P P P P = 0.47). Conclusions cytopathologist's review of NILM/hrHPV+ PTs identified more 2-step discrepancies than routine 10% rescreening. Significantly more patients in the upgraded group were found to harbor CIN2+; however, this could be related to the higher rate of referral to colposcopy in this group.
Kruppel-like factor 4 regulates endothelial inflammation.

The vascular endothelium plays a critical role in vascular homeostasis. Inflammatory cytokines and non-laminar blood flow induce endothelial dysfunction and confer a pro-adhesive and pro-thrombotic phenotype. Therefore, identification of factors that mediate the effects of these stimuli on endothelial function is of considerable interest. Kruppel-like factor 4 expression has been documented in endothelial cells, but a function has not been described. In this communication we describe the expression in vitro and in vivo of Kruppel-like factor 4 in human and mouse endothelial cells. Furthermore, we demonstrate that endothelial Kruppel-like factor 4 is induced by pro-inflammatory stimuli and shear stress. Overexpression of Kruppel-like factor 4 induces expression of multiple anti-inflammatory and anti-thrombotic factors including endothelial nitric-oxide synthase and thrombomodulin, whereas knockdown of Kruppellike factor 4 leads to enhancement of tumor necrosis factor α-induced vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 and tissue factor expression. The functional importance of Kruppel-like factor 4 is verified by demonstrating that Kruppel-like factor 4 expression markedly decreases inflammatory cell adhesion to the endothelial surface and prolongs clotting time under inflammatory states. Kruppel-like factor 4 differentially regulates the promoter activity of pro- and anti-inflammatory genes in a manner consistent with its anti-inflammatory function. These data implicate Kruppel-like factor 4 as a novel regulator of endothelial activation in response to pro-inflammatory stimuli.
Thermal analysis of coatings and substrate materials during a disruption in fusion reactors

In a tokamak fusion reactor, the frequency of occurrence and the severity of a plasma disruption event will determine the lifetime of the plasma facing components. Disruptions are plasma instabilities which result in rapid loss of confinement and termination of plasma current Intense energy fluxes to components like the rust wall and the divertor plate are expected during the disruptions. This high energy deposition in short times may cause severe surface erosion of these components resulting from melting and vaporization. Coatings and tile materials are proposed to protect and maintain the integrity of the underneath, structural materials from both erosion losses as well as from high thermal stresses encountered during a disruption. The coating thickness should be large enough to withstand both erosion losses and to reduce the temperature rise in the substrate structural material. The coating thickness should be minimized to enhance the structural integrity, to reduce potential problems from radioactivity, and to minimize materials cost. Tile materials such as graphite and coating materials such as beryllium and tungsten on structural materials like copper, steel, and vanadium are analyzed and compared as potential diverter and first wall design options. The effect of the sprayed coating properties during the disruptionmore » is investigated. Porous sprayed material may be found to protect the structure better than condensed phase properties. The minimum coating thickness required to protect the structural material during disruption is discussed. The impact of self shielding effect by the eroded material oil the response of both the type/coating and the substrate is discussed.« less
Analysis of food crushing sounds during mastication : frequency-time studies

Etude sur des chips de pomme de terre et des tortillas, de la frequence des sons produits par 10 mastications consecutives et comparaison de la precision des informations a celle obtenue par une seule premiere mastication
Changes of γ-tubulin expression and distribution in the zebrafish (Danio rerio) ovary, oocyte and embryo

Abstract The tubulin gene family is important for individual zebrafish development from the oocyte through to hatching. This involves often rapid, complex changes in the gametes and embryonic cells that are reflected in underlying gene expression changes. Tubulin dynamics, i.e., the interchange of polymeric and soluble forms in zebrafish oogenesis and embryogenesis, is important for microtubule (MT) cellular functions. Nevertheless, our understanding of how tubulin gene expression changes during zebrafish development is not clear. Previous data showed that soluble α-tubulin and γ-tubulin are associated with large molecular weight complexes (>2 MDa) which are reduced by the blastula stage, with a concomitant decrease in soluble tubulin amount. Complexes (
A Selectively Anodic Bonded Micropump for Implantable Medical Drug Delivery Systems

Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) fabrication techniques offer a unique solution for implantable medical drug delivery systems. An implantable medical drug delivery system can relieve the pain associated with frequent injections and deliver a localized dosage. An implantable drug delivery system can also avoid contamination and infection better than conventional injection methods (such as intravenous injection). The major advantage of microfabricated drug delivery systems is the possibility of mass production at low cost. A silicon based peristaltically actuated implantable medical drug delivery system consisting of three pumping chambers was microfabricated and tested. The unique features of this microfabricated drug delivery system include the design of a selectively anodic bonded micropump. The selectively anodic bonded Pyrex glass wafer was used to seal the pump chambers and allow for a view of fluid movement. Chromium was used as a selective bonding material. A 20 nm thick chromium film deposited on the top surface of the silicon valves successfully prevented bonding between the valve and the glass wafer. The pump operates with a normally closed valve which consists of a silicon mesa located at the center of each chamber. This mesa makes intimate contact with the glass wafer. Three 180 μm deep and 12 mm diameter circular chambers were etched into the top surface of the silicon wafer using deep reactive ion etching (DRIE) and connected by two 1 mm wide channels. Directly opposite the chambers, three 12 mm diameter circular features were etched 320 μm deep using DRIE to create a 50 μm thick silicon membrane and provide an attachment point for piezoelectric actuating disks. The piezoelectric disks were applied using a conductive silver epoxy. A positive potential was applied to the gold layer that was e-beam deposited on the substrate, with the negative terminal applied to each individual actuator. The three pump chambers were actuated in a peristaltic motion with driving frequencies ranging from 0.5 to 4 Hz and actuation voltages ranging from 10–130 V. The design goal of 10 μL/min was met at driving frequencies of 2 and 4 Hz where the maximum flowrate was 10.1 and 11.4 μL/min for the 2 and 4 Hz actuation frequencies respectively at an actuation voltage of 130 V. The maximum pressure achieved by the pump was 35.8 mmH2 0 for the 2 and 4 Hz actuation frequencies at an actuation voltage of 130 V.© 2002 ASME
Introduction: The Irish in the American Civil War

Take your gun and go, John, Take your gun and go, For Ruth can drive the oxen, John, And I can use the hoe.1 So went the chorus of a rousing song that travelled throughout the USA during the summer...
Temperature-Dependent Near-Infrared Spectral Properties of Minerals, Meteorites, and Lunar Soil

Abstract The near-IR spectral properties of minerals, meteorites, and lunar soil vary with temperature. The manner in which these materials vary is diagnostic of aspects of their composition. We quantify the spectral dependence on temperature by reporting the change in relative reflectance with temperature as a function of wavelength. We call this quantity, Δ R /Δ T (in units of K −1 ), as a function of temperature the “thermo-reflectance spectrum.” The thermo-reflectance spectra of olivine and pyroxene are distinct, and most of the observable structure in thermo-reflectance spectra of the ordinary and carbonaceous chondrites can be understood in terms of a mixture of the thermo-reflectance spectra of olivine and pyroxene. The magnitude of thermo-reflectance spectra of meteorites and lunar soils is much less than that of pure minerals. Lunar soils are particularly subdued. While conventional analysis of remotely obtained spectra of the Moon can neglect temperature effects, spatially resolved measurements of the surface of the asteroid Vesta will likely have a strong temperature-dependent component based on measurements of a eucrite and a howardite.
Nebulae as gravitational lenses

Einstein recently published (1) some calculations concerning a suggestion made by R. W. Mandl, namely, that a star B may act as a "gravitational lens" for light coming from another star A which lies closely enough on the line of sight behind B. As Einstein remarks the chance to observe this effect for stars is extremely small.
Discussion of Firm Valuation Effects of the Expatriation of U.S. Corporations to Tax‐Haven Countries

INTRODUCTION Cloyd et al. (2003b) (hereafter CMW) investigate the following primary research question: Do firms experience a positive stock price reaction upon announcing they are moving their corporate headquarters from the United States to a tax haven? In these inversion transactions, if the present value of the expected tax savings exceeds the nontax costs, at least on average, then the inversion announcement should cause a positive market reaction. However, CMW point out that inverting may involve substantial nontax costs. The policy-based motivation is as follows. If corporate inversions are valued by the market and save the corporations money, then other firms will follow suit, and it is likely that the U.S. government will need to impose new tax rules to discourage inversions. However, if the inversions do not tend to save companies money, then their use will decline without government intervention. Using an event-study methodology on a sample of 20 inverting firms, CMW are unable to reject the null hypothesis that the inverting firms do not experience abnormal returns, against the alternative of positive abnormal returns. In fact, the firms experience negative announcement period abnormal returns, on average, although not significantly different from zero. This null result is surprising both because there appears to be large tax savings from the inversions and two other concurrent studies (Desai and Hines 2002; Seida and Wempe 2002b) do find some evidence of positive returns to corporate inversions. Overall, while the research question is relevant and interesting, it is difficult to reach solid conclusions from an event study with only 20 firms. The small sample size, perhaps, partially explains why the conclusions across the concurrent studies in this area differ. In addition, the relatively small number of firms undertaking voluntary corporate inversions— the entire population is only the 20 firms—is direct evidence that there may be hidden costs from inversions. The importance of CMW is the suggestion that it might be premature to conclude that there are large benefits to inverting.
Simultaneous Object Detection and Segmentation by Boosting Local Shape Feature based Classifier

This paper proposes an approach to simultaneously detect and segment objects of a known category. Edgelet features are used to capture the local shape of the objects. For each feature a pair of base classifiers for detection and segmentation is built. The base segmentor is designed to predict the per-pixel figure-ground assignment around a neighborhood of the edgelet based on the feature response. The neighborhood is represented as an effective field which is determined by the shape of the edgelet. A boosting algorithm is used to learn the ensemble classifier with cascade decision strategy from the base classifier pool. The simultaneousness is achieved for both training and testing. The system is evaluated on a number of public image sets and compared with several previous methods.
Forest landscape management in a stochastic environment, with an application to mixed loblolly pine–hardwood forests

This paper seeks ways of managing forests for landscape diversity, tree species and size diversities and timber production in a stochastic environment. A Markov chain model was developed to describe stand transition between pre-defined states, with high-frequency shocks and rare natural catastrophes. Stochastic optimization was then used with this model to study the trade-off between landscape diversity and other management objectives. This approach was applied to the mixed loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) and hardwood forests in the southern United States. The results showed that natural catastrophes enhanced the diversity of the landscape, but impaired the tree species and size diversities. Following current management would generate high landscape diversity, but low timber productivity. A highly diverse landscape could be maintained while keeping the tree species and size diversities near the achievable maximum. But managing to maximize tree size diversity or species diversity would much decrease landscape diversity. The opportunity cost of preserving a highly diverse landscape was high in terms of foregone timber production.
The Concept of a Work in WorldCat: An Application of FRBR

This paper explores the concept of a work in WorldCat, the OCLC Online Union Catalog, using the hierarchy of bibliographic entities defined in the Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (FRBR) report. A methodology is described for constructing a sample of works by applying the FRBR model to randomly selected WorldCat records. This sample is used to estimate the number of works in WorldCat, and describe some of their key characteristics. Results suggest that the majority of benefits associated with applying FRBR to WorldCat could be obtained by concentrating on a relatively small number of complex works.
Precursor Frequency, Nonlinear Proliferation, and Functional Maturation of Virus-Specific CD4+ T Cells

The early events regulating antiviral CD4 responses were tracked using an adoptive transfer model. CD4+ T cell expansion was nonlinear, with a lengthy lag phase followed by 2 days of explosive proliferation. A small number of naive Ag-specific CD4+ T cells were found in nonlymphoid tissues and, in the 8 days following infection, the number of activated cells increased in all tissues analyzed, and their effector functions matured. Finally, we show that a naive mouse contains approximately 100 naive CD4+ precursor cells specific for a single epitope, a precursor frequency of approximately 10(-5), similar to that of naive CD8+ T cells, indicating that the approximately 50-fold difference in size of the two responses to virus infection is determined by something other than the number of precursor cells.
Does the requirement of a craniotomy predict outcome? A preliminary investigation.

The literature has been replete with reports that persons who require craniotomy for the treatment of their traumatic brain injury have a far worse outcome. The majority of these reports have utilized the rather global Glasgow Outcome Scale as a determinant of outcome. This paper sought to evaluate the effect of craniotomy on outcome as measured by the DRS. Data was collected on 341 persons (mean age 37.7 years) with traumatic brain injury treated at the Level I trauma centre, who required inpatient rehabilitation. Surgical interventions were classified as 'no surgery', 'one cranial surgery', or 'two or more cranial surgeries'. Initial GCS scores revealed 44 persons at GCS 3-5, 102 persons at GCS 6-8, 83 persons at GCS 9-12 and 112 persons at GCS 13 15. The DRS was administered to each person at discharge from in patient rehabilitation. Mean DRS scores were 7.07 for GCS 3-5, 6.03 for GCS 6-8, 6.53 for GCS 9-12, 5.57 for GCS 13-15 groups. A factorial ANOVA revealed an interaction between initial GCS and su...
A point-and-click interface for the real world: laser designation of objects for mobile manipulation

We present a novel interface for human-robot interaction that enables a human to intuitively and unambiguously select a 3D location in the world and communicate it to a mobile robot. The human points at a location of interest and illuminates it (``clicks it'') with an unaltered, off-the-shelf, green laser pointer. The robot detects the resulting laser spot with an omnidirectional, catadioptric camera with a narrow-band green filter. After detection, the robot moves its stereo pan/tilt camera to look at this location and estimates the location's 3D position with respect to the robot's frame of reference.Unlike previous approaches, this interface for gesture-based pointing requires no instrumentation of the environment, makes use of a non-instrumented everyday pointing device, has low spatial error out to 3 meters, is fully mobile, and is robust enough for use in real-world applications.We demonstrate that this human-robot interface enables a person to designate a wide variety of everyday objects placed throughout a room. In 99.4% of these tests, the robot successfully looked at the designated object and estimated its 3D position with low average error. We also show that this interface can support object acquisition by a mobile manipulator. For this application, the user selects an object to be picked up from the floor by ``clicking'' on it with the laser pointer interface. In 90% of these trials, the robot successfully moved to the designated object and picked it up off of the floor.
Neurochemical changes associated with schedule-controlled behavior.

Studies of monoamine metabolites within the cerebrospinal fluid compartment have indicated that this approach may be useful in examining central metabolic changes in vivo. By combining the technologies of radioisotope chemistry, operant behavior control and modification, and brain perfusion with push-pull cannulas, we have been able to examine minute to minute changes in the disposition of radiolabeled monoamine transmitter candidates and their metabolites. These substances appear to co-vary with changes in complex behavior maintained by operant schedules of reinforcement and affected by changes in schedules or administration of psychotropic drugs. In agreement with other perfusion studies, we have observed changes in fractional distribution of radiolabeled urea, a so-called extracellular marker, along with shifts in monoamines; but the former appear more transient. These observations nevertheless support the concept of dynamic changes within the extracellular environment of the CNS that may be part of a hormone-like communicating system with functional significance. Furthermore, the presence of peaks and/or troughs, in perfusates, of [14C]urea or similar substances should not be taken as a priori evidence for nonspecificity of the technic, since selective release or inhibition of release of monoamines can be shown with appropriate drugs that are thought to act through these aminergic systems. Destruction of catecholamine nerve terminals with 6-hydroxydopamine likewise attenuates the signal-locked release of radiolabeled norepinephrine by a conditioned stimulus after conditioning occurs. No such release is seen on presentation of the to-be-conditioned neutral stimulus in control or 6-hydroxydopamine treated rats. These initial studies indicate the availability of a powerful tool for the study of drug-neurochemical-behavioral interactions using subjects as their own controls for extended periods of time so that phenomena of plasticity, tolerance and dependence may likewise be examined.—Sparber, S. B. Neurochemical changes associated with schedule-controlled behavior. Federation Proc. 34: 1802–1812, 1975.
Adhesion Quantification of Post-CMP Copper to Amorphous SiN Passivation by NanoIndentation

In this study, film interfacial fracture is induced by nanoindentation to quantify the practical work of adhesion of a post-CMP copper film to an amorphous silicon nitride passivation film. Poor adhesion of electrodeposited copper to SiN passivation is observed following CMP due to copper oxide growth prior to plasma enhanced silicon nitride deposition. Four point bend testing has shown that failure by brittle fracture of test structures occurs at the Cu/CuO interface. Hydrogen, ammonia, and nitrogen plasma treatments of the post-CMP copper surface can be used to remove the oxide, shown by auger electron spectroscopy, and to increase the surface roughness of copper, shown by atomic force microscopy. Both effects can be used to improve the Cu/SiN adhesion. Nanoindentation with a conical indenter (1.59 μm tip radius) was used to induce SiN film delaminations from Cu, the sizes of which were measured and correlated with the practical work of adhesion.[1,2] In order to more reliably and repeatably produce these delaminations a TiW (10wt% Ti) superlayer was sputter deposited on to the test structures.[2,3] Mechanical properties, including elastic modulus and hardness of SiN, electrodeposited copper, and TiW measured by nanoindentation are also reported here.
Synergistic integration of code encryption and compression in embedded systems

Code encryption is a promising approach that encrypts the application binary to protect it from reverse engineering and tampering, and decrypts the instructions during runtime. A major challenge is to trade-off between the security level and runtime decryption overhead. In this paper, we explore a synergistic combination of various code compression algorithms with code encryption techniques to reduce this overhead. Since decryption overhead (time) is linearly dependent on code size, it is promising to employ compression to reduce code size, and thereby achieve the advantages of both compression and encryption. Experimental results demonstrate that our proposed scheme can employ efficient encryption techniques while significantly improve the performance up to 2.3X (1.5X on average) and reduce energy consumption up to 57% (26% on average), compared to using encryption alone.
Radiative transfer simulation of dust-like aerosols: Uncertainties from particle shape and refractive index

Abstract The composition, particle shape, number concentration, size distribution, and spatial and temporal distributions of dust aerosols cause significant uncertainties in relevant radiative transfer simulations. The spherical particle approximation has been generally recognized to introduce errors in radiative transfer calculations involving dust aerosols. Although previous studies have attempted to quantify the effect of non-spherical particles, no consensus has been reached as to the significance of the dust aerosols non-spherical effect on flux calculations. For this study, we utilize a newly developed ultra-violet-to-far-infrared spectral database of the single-scattering properties of tri-axial ellipsoidal, mineral dust-like aerosols to study the non-spherical effect on radiative forcing. The radiance and flux differences between the spherical and ellipsoidal models are obtained for various refractive indices and particle size distributions. The errors originating from using the spherical model and the uncertainties in the refractive indices are quantified at both the top and bottom of the atmosphere. The dust non-spherical effect on the net flux and heating rate profile is obtained over the entire range of the solar spectrum. The particle shape effect is found to be related to the dust optical depth and the surface albedo and can be an important uncertainty source in radiative transfer simulation. The particle shape effect is largest over water surfaces and can cause up to a 30% difference in dust forcing at the top of the atmosphere.
A preliminary report on Advanced Microwave Precipitation Radiometer measurements of tropical rainfall of cyclone Oliver

The Advanced Microwave Precipitation Radiometer (AMPR) was deployed during the Tropical Ocean Global Atmosphere (TOGA) Coupled Ocean-Atmospheric Response Experiment (COARE) from January 4 to February 24, 1993. The passive microwave signatures of a variety of precipitation features were sampled by the AMPR during this time. These data are used for convection and precipitation studies supporting the goals of NASA's Mission to Planet Earth. On February 8, 1993, the AMPR was flown over tropical cyclone Oliver which developed in the Western Pacific Ocean off the east coast of Townsville, Australia. The results of measurements indicated heavy rain within the eyewall of the cyclone as shown in the 10.7 GHz imagery, with precipitation size ice displaced down-shear (away from the eye) in the sloping eyewall. >
Looking at other people: mechanisms for social perception revealed in subjects with focal amygdala damage

How does the presence of socially relevant information in the environment influence our perception and judgment of other people? We have investigated how we direct our gaze to other people's faces, how we use specific features from faces to make social judgments about the presumed internal states of others, and how these mechanisms are disrupted following pathology. Studies of patients with damage to the amygdala have demonstrated a specific impairment in the ability to direct gaze towards, and to use information from, the eyes in others' faces. This basic impairment may explain the deficient recognition of basic emotions and deficient social judgment seen in such patients. Ongoing studies in our laboratory examine face-to-face social interactions with real people in an attempt to link the above impairments in the laboratory to the dysfunctional social cognition seen in everyday life.
Investigation of Serum Lipoprotein Metabolism in Man with I131- Labeled Triolein

T HE present investigation was undertaken to study the role of the several lipoprotein components of human serum in the transport of dietary fat. Labeled fatty acids in the form of I’s’ triolein were fed to normal subjects and patients with various blood lipid abnormalities in order to study the nature of these deviations from normal and their effects on lipid transport.
Fasting-dependent glucose and lipid metabolic response through hepatic sirtuin 1

In the fasted state, induction of hepatic glucose output and fatty acid oxidation is essential to sustain energetic balance. Production and oxidation of glucose and fatty acids by the liver are controlled through a complex network of transcriptional regulators. Among them, the transcriptional coactivator PGC-1α plays an important role in hepatic and systemic glucose and lipid metabolism. We have previously demonstrated that sirtuin 1 (SIRT1) regulates genes involved in gluconeogenesis through interaction and deacetylation of PGC-1α. Here, we show in vivo that hepatic SIRT1 is a factor in systemic and hepatic glucose, lipid, and cholesterol homeostasis. Knockdown of SIRT1 in liver caused mild hypoglycemia, increased systemic glucose and insulin sensitivity, and decreased glucose production. SIRT1 knockdown also decreased serum cholesterol and increased hepatic free fatty acid and cholesterol content. These metabolic phenotypes caused by SIRT1 knockdown tightly correlated with decreased expression of gluconeogenic, fatty acid oxidation and cholesterol degradation as well as efflux genes. Additionally, overexpression of SIRT1 reversed many of the changes caused by SIRT1 knockdown and depended on the presence of PGC-1α. Interestingly, most of the effects of SIRT1 were only apparent in the fasted state. Our results indicate that hepatic SIRT1 is an important factor in the regulation of glucose and lipid metabolism in response to nutrient deprivation. As these pathways are dysregulated in metabolic diseases, SIRT1 may be a potential therapeutic target to control hyperglycemia and hypercholesterolemia.
Photoconductive step-function sampling

Measurement of picosecond electrical signals using a photoconductive step-function gate is demonstrated analytically and experimentally. The time resolution of our step-function technique is limited only by the rise time of the step-function, which is approximately the same as the laser pulse width. Also, a regular, undoped semiconductor material, which is essential for the realization of a short-duration gate, can be used instead of the highly defected material. The use of undoped material gives 10 to 100 times higher sensitivity in the measurement than the impulse-function technique because of the high mobility of the undoped material. >
Analysis of Tyrosinase Mutations Associated With Tyrosinase‐Related Oculocutaneous Albinism (OCAI)

Mutations of the tyrosinase gene associated with a partial or complete loss of enzymatic activity are responsible for tyrosinase related oculocutaneous albinism (OCA1). A large number of mutations have been identified and their analysis has provided insight into the biology of tyrosinase and the pathogenesis of these different mutations. Missense mutations produce their effect on the activity of an enzyme by altering an amino acid at a specific site. The location of these mutations in the peptide can be used to indicate potential domains important for enzymatic activity. Missense mutations of the tyrosinase polypeptide cluster in four regions, suggesting that these are important functional domains. Two of the potential domains involve the copper binding sites while the others are likely involved in substrate binding. More critical analysis of the copper binding domain of tyrosinase can be gained by analyzing the structure of hemocyanin, a copper-binding protein with a high degree of homology to tyrosinase in the copper binding region. This analysis indicates a single catalytic site in tyrosinase for all enzymatic activities.
An Evaluation of Two-Level and Three-Level Zero-Voltage Zero-Current Switching Converters

This paper presents a comparative evaluation of the two-level full-bridge zero-voltage zero-current switching (ZVZCS) converter and the three-level half-bridge ZVZCS converter. The paper analyzes the operation and soft-switching limits of both converters, compares them from a theoretical point of view, and presents an approach to optimize their designs. Experimental results are presented to illustrate the performance of both converters..
Planning and execution with phase transitions

We consider a special type of continuous-time Markov decision processes (MDPs) that arise when phase-type distributions are used to model the timing of non-Markovian events and actions. We focus, primarily, on the execution of phase-dependent policies. Phases are introduced into a model to represent relevant execution history, but there is no physical manifestation of phases in the real world. We treat phases as partially observable state features and show how a belief distribution over phase configurations can be derived from observable state features through the use of transient analysis for Markov chains. This results in an efficient method for phase tracking during execution that can be combined with the QMDP value method for POMDPs to make action choices. We also discuss, briefly, how the structure of MDPs with phase transitions can be exploited in structured value iteration with symbolic representation of vectors and matrices.
Time Use of Mothers and Fathers in Hard Times and Better Times: The US Business Cycle of 2003-10 *

The US economic crisis and recession of 2007-09 accelerated the convergence of women’s and men’s employment rates as men experienced disproportionate job losses and women’s entry into the labor force gathered pace. Using the American Time Use Survey (ATUS) data for 2003-10, this study examines whether the narrowing gap in paid work over this period was mirrored in unpaid work, personal care, and leisure time. We find that the gender gap in unpaid work followed a U-pattern, narrowing during the recession but widening afterward. Through segregation analysis, we trace this U-pattern to the slow erosion of gender segregation in housework and, through a standard decomposition analysis of time use by employment status, show that this pattern was mainly driven by movement toward gender-equitable unpaid hours of women and men with the same employment status. In addition, gender inequality in leisure time increased over the business cycle.
Study on Estimating Buffer Overflow Probabilities in High-Speed Communication Networks

The paper recommends new methods to estimate effectively the probabilities of buffer overflow in high-speed communication networks. The frequency of buffer overflow in queuing system is very small; therefore the overflow is defined as rare event and can be estimated using rare event simulation with continuous-time Markov chains. First, a two-node queuing system is consideredandthebufferoverflowatthesecondnodeisstudied.Twoefficient rare event simulation algorithms, based on the Importance sampling and Cross-entropy methods, are developed and applied to accelerate the buffer overflow simulation with Markov chain modeling. Then, the buffer overflow in self-similar queuing system is studied and the simulations with long-range dependent self-similar traffic source models are conducted. A new efficient simulation algorithm, based on the RESTART method with limited relative error technique, is developed and applied to accelerate the buffer overflow simulation with SSM/M/1/B modeling using different parameters of arrival processes and different buffer sizes. Numerical examples and simulation results are provided for all methods to estimate the probabilities of buffer overflow, proposed in this paper.
Analysis of evaporative cooling and enhancement of condenser efficiency and of coefficient of performance

The graphical method to determine with the aid of a Mollier i - x diagram (psychrometric chart) combined heat and mass transfer is simulated by a computer program. Heat rejection rates from a plate-fin tube type condenser are determined for various flow rates and inlet state conditions of air and for different degrees of wetting of the heat transfer surfaces. The presence of water and the cooling by latent heat makes it possible to exchange more heat than the unwetted exchanger would even for idealized conditions of infinite heat transfer coefficient of the air. The evaporative cooled condenser also can exchange heat with ambient air which has much higher temperature than the condensing fluid. Evaporative cooling increases heat transfer by a factor of more than three for saturated inlet air and greater than five for lower inlet humidities. Wetted heat exchangers require less extended surfaces and can operate effectively with bare tubes only. Wetting the condenser of a refrigeration or heat pump system makes it possible to exchange the condenser load at lower temperatures. This yields an increase of COP of the order of 30 to 60% and therefore a substantial decrease in compressor power and its energy consumption.
The Effect of Insurance Type on Fragility Fracture Patient Access to Endocrinology Under the Affordable Care Act.

Objectives:To assess the effect of insurance type (Medicaid, Medicare, and private insurance) on fragility fracture patients’ access to endocrinology specialists in the postoperative period.Materia...
Techniques of Iliofemoral Conduit for Endovascular Repair

Anticipation and avoidance of iliofemoral access complications, especially when large delivery systems are required, can decrease the morbidity and mortality associated with endovascular procedures. Careful review of pre-operative computed tomography angiogram is key to determining if adjunctive procedures are needed to successfully deal with iliofemoral vessel issues. Manuevers to avoid iliofemoral disruption can either be staged in advanced or employed at the index procedure and include temporary or permanent conduits, endovascular conduits, and upper extremity access.
Can frequency of prostate biopsy on active surveillance be reduced without significantly increasing risk

e546Background: The goal of this investigation is to use longitudinal Active Surveillance (AS) data to identify whether biopsies could be eliminated from a 10-year AS plan calling for annual biopsy without substantially prolonging the time to detection of prostate cancer (CaP) grade progression. Methods: With data from 1,500 men with very-low or low-risk CaP enrolled in AS at Johns Hopkins, we developed a hidden Markov model to estimate probabilities of progression to Gleason 7 or higher. We then simulated all potential AS biopsy strategies where it was assumed biopsy would be performed no more often than annually and either would or would not be performed each year after diagnosis. For every strategy the model was used to predict the average time from occurrence to the detection of grade progression. Potential alternatives to annual biopsy were identified. Results: The estimated 10 year probability of grade progression was 40.0% and the annual probability was 4.0%. Simulation of an annual biopsy strategy...