cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Retardation of colony growth of in vitro bone marrow culture using sera from patients with felty' syndrome, disseminated lupus erythematosus (sle), rheumatoid arthritis, and other disease states

Whole sera and serum fractions from 24 patients with Felty's syndrome, 42 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and 48 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), as well as 30 patients with miscellaneous acute and chronic disease states, were studied for their effect on numbers of mouse bone marrow colonies grown on soft agar in the presence of human colony stimulating factor. Significant early retardation of mouse bone marrow colony counts was recorded in 87.5 percent of Felty's sera, 43 percent of SLE sera, and 12.5 percent of sera from patients with uncomplicated RA. Forty percent of 30 other control patients with acute or chronic inflammatory diseases also showed this activity. No diminution was noted with any of 40 normal control sera. Degree of marrow colony retardation could be directly correlated to amounts of test serum added. No single serum fraction isolated by ion exchange chromatography, gel filtration, or electrophoresis was identified as solely responsible for marrow growth retardation; however lipoprotein fractions including chylomicrons, LDL and HDL showed inhibiting activity in various sera.
Inhibition of triple-negative and Herceptin-resistant breast cancer cell proliferation and migration by Annexin A2 antibodies

Inhibition of triple-negative and Herceptin-resistant breast cancer cell proliferation and migration by Annexin A2 antibodies
The Determinants of Renal Hemodynamics in Pregnancy

Studies in the rat have permitted a complete characterization of the glomerular hemodynamic changes that occur during a normal pregnancy. The rise in glomerular filtration rate (GFR) is the result of an evenly distributed increase in plasma flow to all nephrons due to vasodilation of both pre- and postglomerular resistance vessels. Pregnancy is not associated with any change in blood pressure in the glomerular capillaries; neither is there any detectable alteration in the glomerular water permeability or filtration surface area. Despite the chronically maintained renal vasodilation of pregnancy, gravid rats exhibit substantial renal reserve when challenged with an amino acid load, indicating that a residual renal vasodilatory capacity exists in the kidney of the normal pregnant animal. Despite the concomitant plasma volume expansion of pregnancy, the tubuloglomerular feedback system (a volume regulatory system that modulates GFR) remains fully active in the pregnant rat, suggesting that the plasma volume in pregnancy is not sensed as expanded by this system. The factor(s) that initiates the gestational rise in GFR is currently unknown, although since similar renal hemodynamic changes occur in the pseudopregnant rat, the stimulus is maternal rather than fetoplacental in origin.
A limitation on the small-scale demonstration of retrodirective microwave power transmission from the solar power satellite

The solar power satellite (SPS) is a future system for transmitting a high-power microwave beam to the Earth using a large, space-based retrodirective array. However, the small-scale demonstration of a prototype retrodirective transmitter for this application faces a basic limitation and associated tradeoffs, which are identified and described in this paper. Computer-simulated examples are presented, and recommendations are made.
Comparison of scleroderma detection techniques in CT images using supervised and unsupervised methods

We compare supervised and unsupervised computer-aided techniques trained to detect Scleroderma Lung Disease (SLD) abnormalities using textural features in Computer Tomography (CT) images. Unsupervised learning can be very valuable since obtaining valid regions of interest are subject to intra- and inter-reader variation. An unsupervised technique, K-Means and a semisupervised technique, Seeded K-Means were trained with minimal user input and few training examples. The techniques' performance was compared with supervised techniques, naive Bayes and C4.5. Results showed that texture-based semisupervised and supervised methods achieve comparable performance (i.e., an overall accuracy of 85.9% using seeded K-Means, 88.3% using naive Bayes and 89% using C4.5). The preliminary results suggest that SLD abnormalities can be characterised with minimal expert input.
The Ethics of Virtue: A Moral Theory for Marketing

The moral theory of virtue ethics holds much promise for guiding the behavior of marketers. Although the origins of this theory can be traced back to Aristotle, it has not received as much emphasis...
Analysis of the nuclear envelope polypeptides by isoelectric focusing and electrophoresis

Abstract The more insoluble polypeptides of the avian erythrocyte nuclear envelope have been characterized by a two-dimensional electrophoretic procedure. Most of the polypeptides occur in two classes with isoelectric points of approximately 6.4 and 5.7 respectively. The more acidic class contains two polypeptides, P71 and one which contributes to an electrophoretic band previously identified as P55. The more basic class includes P75, P68, P61 and two or more polypeptides from the P55 band. There are four to six isoelectric point variants of each polypeptide in the more basic class, and the relative stain intensities for the variants are similar for the different polypeptides. These similarities in ionic properties suggest a chemical relationship between the polypeptides. These results are discussed in relation to the in vitro conversion of P75 to polypeptides of the same molecular weight as P68, P61 and P55.
CHELATING TENDENCIES OF SOME SUBSTITUTED 2-(PYRIDYL)-1,3-INDANEDIONES WITH BIVALENT-METAL IONS

Abstract The acid dissociation constants of six substituted 2-(pyridyl)- and 2-(quinolyl)-1,3-indanediones and formation constants of three of these with some bivalent-metal ions have been determined at 30° in a 75 per cent (v/v) dioxane-water solution. The influence of steric, solvent, and electronic effects on the values of the formation constants is considered. Evidence is presented that suggests that solvent or electronic effects are responsible for the variations of chelating tendencies.
Release Profiles of Tricalcium Phosphate Nanoparticles from Poly(L-lactic acid) Electrospun Scaffolds with Single Component, Core–Sheath, or Porous Fiber Morphologies: Effects on hASC Viability and Osteogenic Differentiation

Functional PLA scaffolds are created with single component, core-sheath, or porous fiber morphology and doped with TCP nanoparticles to study the release profiles for use in bone tissue engineering applications. Pharmacokinetic analyses are performed for the three different nanofibrous structures after doping with TCP. Results indicate that single component and porous fiber scaffolds exhibit an initial-burst release profile whereas core-sheath fibers show a steady release. All scaffolds are then seeded with human adipose-derived stem cells (hASC), which remain viable and continue proliferation on all nanofibrous morphologies for up to 21 d. Osteogenic differentiation of hASC and cell-mediated calcium accretion are largest on porous fibers.
Cross-talk dynamics of optical solitons in a broadband Kerr nonlinear system with weak cubic loss

We study the dynamics of fast soliton collisions in a Kerr nonlinear optical waveguide with weak cubic loss. We obtain analytic expressions for the amplitude and frequency shifts in a single two-soliton collision and show that the impact of a fast three-soliton collision is given by the sum of the two-soliton interactions. Our analytic predictions are confirmed by numerical simulations with the perturbed nonlinear Schr\"odinger (NLS) equation. Furthermore, we show that the deterministic collision-induced dynamics of soliton amplitudes in a broadband waveguide system with $N$ frequency channels is described by a Lotka-Volterra model for $N$ competing species. For a two-channel system we find that stable transmission with equal prescribed amplitudes can be achieved by a proper choice of linear amplifier gain. The predictions of the Lotka-Volterra model are confirmed by numerical solution of a perturbed coupled-NLS model.
Awareness vs Consciousness: A Reply:

Erika Fromm's ( 1965) provocative proposition "to think of the Conscious, the Preconscious, and the Unconscious as being cathected with differing amounts of awareness in different states" has prompted me to the following theorecical considerations which are in basic agreement with her proposition but approach it from a somewhat different direction. To make clear where I differ, let me define terms. By Consciousness I mean that broad range of function in which the organism is actively or passively experiencing affect, perception, or thought. By such a definition, the person who is in a fugue state, who is dreaming, who is in a hypnagogic reverie, or in a day-dream, or in any b ~ ~ t the "plenary" trance state displays varying degrees of consciousness, different, however, from that of the person engaged in concentrated, directed thought. EEG data support this conception. It is only roughly analogous to the psychoanalytic concept of consciousness in that it overlaps with and comprises part of the preconscious and unconscious of the psychoanalytic model. Awareness, it seems to me, is a narrower concept and may be designated as a subsystem of the larger Consciousness. Awareness, by its very etymological connection with "beware" and "wary," implies a judgmental or at least a reflexive (in the grammatical sense) process. That is, to be aware of one's own perceptions, real or imagined, one's feelings, one's thoughts-as one's own-presupposes relating them back ro oneself-as-object. The dreamer, while dreaming, is conscious of imagery and sensations, but not as relating to himself-even when he is one of the dream objects. The person in a fugue state, or in hypnosis, is awake and conscious, but he is not aware of himself as a functional unit. The patient who is free-associating is conscious of choughc and feelings, but not until these have been "interpreted" does he become aware of their meaning to himself. Neither Consciousness nor Awareness is to be considered a static, firmly delineated scate. Both are processes belonging to a three-dimensional continuum with fluid boundaries and are subject to upward and downward flucn~ations according to the prevailing physical and mental state of the organism. This conception is compatible with the dual horizontal as well as vertical organization of the CNS and at the same time fits into the framework of Ego psychology. REFERENCE FROMM, E. Awareness versus consciousness. Psychol. Rep., 1965, 16, 7 11 -71 2.
Antarctic and non-Antarctic meteorites form different populations

The trace element differences between Victoria Land H5 chondrites and non-Antarctic H5 chondrites are studied. The focus on common meteorites was stimulated by Antarctic and non-Antarctic differences in meteorite types and in the trace element contents of congeners of rare type. Thirteen elements were analyzed by neutron activation analysis with radiochemical separation, and eight differed significantly. Eliminating test biasing and the possibility of compositional difference due to Antarctic weathering of the 300,000 year-old (on the average) Victoria Land falls, it is concluded that the two sets of chondrites differ due to extraterrestrial causes. The three possibilities discussed, differences in sample population, physical properties, orbital characteristics, and meteoroid flux with time, are all seen as problematic.
Lessons taught and lessons learned: A story of differential teacher adaptations of lessons for high‐ and low‐ranked hearing impaired students

Research (Allington, 1980; Collins, 1982; Eder, 1981; Gumperz, 1970; Lawrence, 1969; McDermott, 1976, 1978; McDermott & Gospodinoff, 1979; Moll, Estrada, Diaz, & Lopes, 1982) has demonstrated that teachers respond to perceived student abilities by altering communication and teaching strategies. The present study investigates the nature of teacher adaptations and tests the hypothesis that differential adaptations affect children's classroom performance. Three teachers were videotaped, each teaching the same lesson (finding the main idea of a given text) to groups of high‐ and low‐ranked hearing‐impaired high school students. Tapes were transcribed for sign, speech, and contextual features and analyzed utilizing Mehan's (1979) framework for classroom interaction. While teachers indicated the task was within all the students’ abilities, teaching strategies differed drastically between high and low groups in terms of the nature of topically related elicitation sets and the number of deviations from the lesson...
Look who's stalking: Obsessive pursuit and attachment theory

Abstract Few criminological theories have been applied to the study of stalking perpetration, and even fewer address the presence of underlying psychological mechanisms. Attachment theory describes the ways in which an individual with a chaotic family environment in childhood may develop feelings of insecurity that may lead to increased aggression and violent behavior in adolescence and adulthood. In this study, a sample of college students (N = 2,783) were queried on self-reported stalking behaviors and the revised Experiences in Close Relationships (ECR-R) measure of adult attachment. Stalkers scored significantly higher on the insecure-anxious scale of attachment and lower on insecure-avoidant scale. Other psychological variables (major/minor psychiatric diagnoses, depression, and anger-related issues) were also examined, with a history of anger-related diagnosis or treatment positively and significantly associated with stalking perpetration. Implications for theory development in stalking and future research directions are discussed.
Stimulation of prostaglandin formation by vasoactive mediators in cultured human endothelial cells

Abstract Human endothelial cells in culture synthesize prostaglandins and release these products into the culture medium. The major products of arachidonic acid metabolism were identified by high pressure liquid chromatography or thin layer chromatography, and release of prostaglandins was measured by radioimmunoassays. Addition of histamine or bradykinin enhanced release of prostaglandins in both arterial and venous endothelial cells. Other vasoactive compunds including angiotensin II, vasopressin, substance P, epinephrine, norepinephrine, or isoproterenol were ineffective. Release of prostaglandins by histamine was concentration-related, and involved H 1 receptors, as determined by addition of histamine antagonists. Incubation of endothelial cells with C-arachidonic acid resulted in a time-dependent uptake into cell lipids, where most of the radioactivity was incorporated into phosphatidyl choline and neutral lipids. Endothelian cells released 14 C_arachidonic acid as well as 14 C-prostaglandins in response to either histamine or bradykinin. The enhanced release of 14 C-prostaglandins was inhibited by either indomethacin or mepacrine, but 14 C-arachidonic acid release was inhibited only by mepacrine. We conclude that the vasoactive compounds, histamine and bradykinin, stimulate formation of prostaglandins in endothelial cells by the release of arachidonic acid from phospholipids of the cell membrane.
Single-Event Transient Induced Harmonic Errors in Digitally Controlled Ring Oscillators

Single-event transient (SET) induced harmonic errors have been observed in digitally controlled ring oscillators (DCRO). Accumulated phase error is used to characterize harmonic errors in ring oscillator circuits. An analytical model for determining minimum and maximum SET transient duration capable of generating a harmonic is described. Simulation and TPA laser experimental results on a 40-nm DCRO are shown to confirm the assertion of the harmonic vulnerability window with respect to SET pulsewidth. Further more, fault injection experimental results on three RO designs built with discrete commercial off-the-shelf components are included to demonstrate the relationship between harmonic response and SET pulsewidth.
Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy and Tools to Identify Responders

Heart failure is a major epidemic. Many people with heart failure struggle with refractory symptoms despite optimal medical therapy. Those with severe left ventricular dysfunction and ventricular conduction delay are at significant risk from either dying suddenly or dying from progression of their heart failure. Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) improves hemodynamics and symptoms of heart failure and has recently been shown to improve survival. One problem facing the use of CRT is that 30% of patients fail to respond. The dominant theory is that QRS duration (electrical dyssynchrony) does not accurately reflect mechanical dyssynchrony. Echocardiographic tools have recently been developed that enable clinicians to assess the degree of mechanical dyssynchrony in patients being considered for CRT. These tools are able to predict with a significant amount of accuracy whether a patient will respond to CRT. This allows for a more refined approach to evaluating patients for CRT and optimizing the treatment of congestive heart failure.
Biased Standard Errors From Complex Survey Analysis: An Example From Applying Ordinary Least Squares to the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey

Purpose A common research interest is to identify whether there is an increasing or decreasing trend for various health-related conditions over time in national complex surveys. We examined whether standard errors from conventional regression approaches appear accurate for trend analysis of complex surveys. Methods We re-conducted a trend analysis of the national emergency department visit rate from 1997 through 2007 published recently in JAMA . We compared standard errors from classical weighted least squares (CWLS), generalized estimating equation (GEE), information-weighted least squares (IWLS) regression, and nonparametric bootstrapping. Results The standard errors of the slope estimates from CWLS regression (0.88 per 1000 person-years) and from GEE regression (0.87 per 1000 person-years) were less than half the standard error from IWLS regression (1.98 per 1000 person-years). Nonparametric bootstrapping replicated the IWLS result. The p -value for trend from CWLS was only .002 and the GEE p -value was .00002, both much smaller than the p -value of .09 from IWLS. Conclusions In ecologic time-trend analyses, standard errors from CWLS and GEE can be much too small. For these settings, IWLS provides more reliable inferential statistics.
Qualitative and quantitative analysis of MR imaging findings in patients with middle cerebral artery stroke implanted with mesenchymal stem cells.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Mesenchymal stem cells have potential as a regenerative therapy in ischemic stroke. We sought to determine MR imaging findings after mesenchymal stem cell implantation in chronic middle cerebral artery infarcts and to compare brain volume changes in patients with mesenchymal stem cells with those in age-matched healthy controls and controls with chronic stable MCA infarcts. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively identified 5 patients receiving surgical mesenchymal stem cell implantation to an MCA infarct from January 1, 2005, to July 1, 2013, with MR imaging immediately and 1 year postimplantation. Images at both time points were evaluated for any postimplantation complications. Structural image evaluation using normalization of atrophy software was used to determine volume changes between time points and compare them with those in healthy and age- and sex-matched controls with chronic, stable MCA infarcts by using Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U tests. RESULTS: Susceptibility signal loss and enhancement at the implantation site were seen. No teratoma, tumor, or heterotopia was identified. Volumetric analysis showed a trend toward less overall volume loss after mesenchymal stem cell implantation (0.736; 95% CI, −4.15–5.62) compared with that in age- and sex-matched controls with chronic, stable MCA infarcts (−3.59; 95% CI, −12.3 to −5.21; P = .09), with a significantly greater growth-to-loss ratio in infarcted regions (1.30 and 0.78, respectively, P = .02). A trend toward correlation of growth-to-loss ratio with improvement in physical examination findings was seen ( r = 0.856, P = .06). CONCLUSIONS: Postoperative changes consistent with stereotactic implantation were seen, but no teratoma, tumor, or heterotopia was identified. Initial findings suggest a trend toward less volume loss after mesenchymal stem cell implantation compared with that in age- and sex-matched controls with chronic, stable MCA infarcts, with a significantly greater growth-to-loss ratio in the infarcted tissue. %BVC : percentage brain volume change GLR : growth-to-loss ratio MCAI controls : age- and sex-matched controls with chronic, stable MCA infarcts MSC : mesenchymal stem cells SIENA : structural image evaluation using normalization of atrophy ST : section thickness
Images of charge-density waves obtained with scanning tunneling microscopy

Abstract Quasi one- and two-dimensional metals show Fermi surface instabilities leading to the formation of charge-density waves (CDWs) accompanied by a periodic lattice distortion. The charge transfer associated with the CDW formation can be a large fraction of an electron per atom. In this paper we present studies of the CDWs in layer structure dichalcogenide crystals using a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) operating at 77 K. Images of the CDWs in 1T-TaSe2 and 2H-TaSe2 are presented along with the images of the surface atoms in 2H-TaSe2 and 2H-TaS2. The STM response to the CDW modulation of the electron density is unusually large in the 1T phases suggesting the presence of singularities in the surface charge density.
There is at least one a priori truth

In a number of famous publications (the most famous being the celebrated article 'Two Dogmas of Empiricism', Philosophical Review, 1951) Willard van Orman Quine has advanced the thesis that there is no such thing as an (absolutely) a priori truth. (Usually he speaks of 'analyticity' rather than apriority; but his discussion clearly includes both notions, and somewhere I don't have the reference at the moment he has explicitly said that what he is rejecting is the idea that any statement is completely a priori. For a discussion of the different threads in Quine's arguments, see my paper 'Two Dogmas Revisited', in Contemporary Aspects of Philosophy, ed. Gilbert Ryle, Oriel Press, 1977). Apriority is identified by Quine with unrevisability. But there are at least two possible interpretations of unrevisability: (Interpretation One) A behavioral interpretation, viz. an unrevisable statement is one we would never give up (as a sheer be? havioral fact about us) ; and (Interpretation Two) an epistemic interpreta? tion, viz. an unrevisable statement is one we would never be rational to give up (perhaps, even a statement that it would never be rational to even think of giving up). On the first interpretation, the claim that we might revise even the laws of logic becomes merely the claim that certain phenomena might cause us to give up our belief in some of the laws of logic; there would be no claim being made that doing so would be rational. Rather the notion of rationality itself would have gone by the board. I don't know if Quine actually intended to take so radical a position as this, but, in any case, I think that most of his followers understood him to be advocating a more moderate doctrine. This more moderate doctrine was, in any case, put forward by me, for example, in a paper I titled 'It Ain't Necessarily So'. The moderate doctrine, unlike the more radical doctrine, employs the notion of rationality. The claim of the moderate doctrine is that there are no truths which it would never be rational to give up; for every truth or putative truth, there are circumstances under which it would be rational to accept its denial. This position was itself argued for, on the basis of an induction from the history of science. It was not itself supposed to be an a priori truth. Thus the cheap shot, which
Radionuclide imaging of cardiac autonomic innervation

Cardiac autonomic function plays a crucial role in health and disease, with abnormalities both reflecting the severity of the disease and contributing specifically to clinical deterioration and poor prognosis. Radiotracer analogs of the sympathetic mediator norepinephrine have been investigated extensively, and are at the brink of potential widespread clinical use. The most widely studied SPECT tracer, I-123 metaiodobenzylguanidine (123I-mIBG) has consistently shown a strong, independent ability to risk stratify patients with advanced congestive heart failure. Increased global cardiac uptake appears to have a high negative predictive value in terms of cardiac events, especially death and arrhythmias, and therefore and may have a role in guiding therapy, particularly by helping to better select patients unresponsive to conventional medical therapies who would benefit from device therapies such as an ICD (implantable cardioverter defibrillator), CRT (cardiac resynchronization therapy), LVAD (left ventricular assist device), or cardiac transplantation. Cardiac autonomic imaging with SPECT and PET tracers also shows potential to assess patients following cardiac transplant, those with primary arrhythmic condition, coronary artery disease, diabetes mellitus, and during cardiotoxic chemotherapy. Radiotracer imaging of cardiac autonomic function allows visualization and quantitative measurements of underlying molecular aspects of cardiac disease, and should therefore provide a perspective that other cardiac tests cannot.
The Easy Approach to Ontology

This paper defends the view that ontological questions (properly understood) are easy—too easy, in fact, to be subjects of substantive and distinctively philosophical debates. They are easy, roughly, in the sense that they may be resolved straightforwardly—generally by a combination of conceptual and empirical enquiries. After briefly outlining the view and some of its virtues, I turn to examine two central lines of objection. The first is that this ‘easy’ approach is itself committed to substantive ontological views, including an implausibly permissive ontology. The second is that it, like neo-Fregean views, relies on transformation rules that are questionable on both logical and ontological grounds. Ultimately, I will argue, the easy view is not easily assailed by either of these routes, and so remains (thus far) a tenable and attractive approach.
Archiving the videogame industry: collecting primary materials of new media artifacts

This paper describes the initial deposits in The Videogame Archive at the Center for American History at the University of Texas at Austin.
Nonlinear self-trapping in a quantum dimer

Abstract The Frohlach-Einstein dimer (FED) is a dynamical system of four coupled oscillators which is nonlinear if described in terms of classical physics. Based on the Frohlich Hamiltonian of solid state physics, the FED model gives rise to a type of energy localization that is featured in Davydov's theory of protein solitons. Recent analytical results are presented here which give an improved quantum-mechanical description of local mode dynamics in the FED. The qualitative picture of localization dynamics obtained from these results is compared with descriptions obtained from approximation methods commonly used in studies of more complicated systems. The FED model is shown to be particularly suitable for such comparative studies.
Malignant ventricular arrhythmias are well tolerated in patients receiving long-term left ventricular assist devices

Objectives. We sought to quantitate the incidence of malignant ventricular arrhythmias and to identify subsequent hemodynamic changes and untoward events in patients who have received an implantable left ventricular circulatory assist device as an extended bridge to heart transplantation. Background. Implantable long-term mechanical circulatory assist devices have been used clinically with increasing frequency and success for the past 4 years. Previous investigators have suggested that patients with malignant ventricular arrhythmias receiving a left ventricular assist device will require both left and right ventricular assistance to maintain vital organ perfusion. Methods. We reviewed our 4-year experience with 21 patients who underwent implantation of a left ventricular assist device. Device flows and mean arterial pressure were used to assess systemic perfusion; central venous pressure provided a gauge of right ventricular function. Charts were screened for evidence of end-organ injury resulting from malignant ventricular arrhythmias. Results. Malignant ventricular arrhythmias occurred in 4 patients (19%) before device placement and in 9 patients (43%) during device support. The latter nine patients formed the final study group; their arrhythmias occurred 0 to 186 days after device implantation and had a duration of 10 min to 12 days. The patients reported weakness or palpitation; however, none reported syncope or dyspnea. Mean arterial pressure and central venous pressure were insiganificantly changed by the arrhythmias. Device flow decreased by 1.4 ± 0.6 liters/min (p < 0.05) at the onset of the arrhythmias but returned to normal after cardioversion. No thromboembolic events or significant end-organ dysfunction occurred. Conclusion. Absence of right ventricular contraction during malignant ventricular arrhythmias is well tolerated in recipients of a left ventricular assist device. The diagnosis of malignant arrhythmia should be suspected if an unexplained decrease in left ventricular assist device flow occurs. Early electrical cardioversion is warranted to avoid both thrombus formation in the native heart and right ventricular myocardial injury from prolonged fibrillation.
Photoinitiated polymerization of N‐methylolacrylamide with crosslinked cotton cellulose

The effects of crosslinking both unswollen and swollen cotton cellulose on the photoinitiated reactions of N-methylolacrylamide (NMA) with cotton are reported. Formaldehyde and dimethylolethyleneurea were used as crosslinking agents. Crosslinked cellulose had a decreased efficiency of photoconversion of NMA to poly(N-methylolacrylamide) (pNMA) with cotton. If the cellulose was crosslinked in the swollen state, increased dosages of ultraviolet radiation gave complete conversion of NMA to pNMA with cotton. Cotton that was crosslinked in the unswollen state probably restricted movement of the aqueous solution of NMA within the fiber and fabric structures and decreased chain propagation within the structures. This restriction resulted in decreased photoconversion of NMA to pNMA with cotton. Transmission and scanning electron microscopy of cotton cellulose that was crosslinked in the swollen state and of cotton cellulose that was crosslinked in the unswollen state showed that swollen cotton was less compacted than unswollen cotton.
Low power implementation of maximum energy harvesting scheme for vibration-based electromagnetic microgenerators

Electromagnetic microgenerators are widely used as means for vibration-based energy harvesting. Just like other harvesting sources, they can also be operated to harvest maximum energy by controlling the resistance offered to the microgenerator. For low power, maximum energy harvesting scheme is quite difficult to implement due to the overhead power costs of the digital control circuits. In this work, a single stage AC-DC converter is utilized to boost the low voltage of the microgenerator. A novel maximum power tracking scheme is proposed which changes the duty cycle of the converter to offer optimum resistance to the microgenerator. The control system would only consume a few micro-watts of power and can be applied to low power systems. Relevant simulation and experimental results are provided to validate the proposed scheme.
Recent advances in transition path sampling: accurate reaction coordinates, likelihood maximisation and diffusive barrier-crossing dynamics

Because transition states are too rare and transient to observe in experiments, simulations are among the best sources of molecular-level insight on transition states and reaction mechanisms. A first step in many rare-event simulations is to identify a reaction coordinate. For reactions that break and make strong bonds, the reaction coordinate is the unstable eigenmode at a saddle point on the potential energy surface. However, processes such as nucleation and protein folding may disrupt and reorganise thousands of interactions, so identifying a reaction coordinate is a major challenge. An accurate reaction coordinate should result in a free energy profile that is consistent with the projected dynamics. Ten years ago, this intuitive requirement led to committor analysis, a trial-and-error procedure for testing putative reaction coordinates. Since then, our ability to identify accurate reaction coordinates has dramatically improved. First, new versions of committor analysis are quantitative and more effici...
Dissecting the effect of rainfall variability on the statistical structure of peak flows

This study examines the role of rainfall variability on the spatial scaling structure of peak flows using the Whitewater River basin in Kansas as an illustration. Specifically, we investigate the effect of rainfall on the scatter, the scale break and the power law (peak flows vs. upstream areas) regression exponent. We illustrate why considering individual hydrographs at the outlet of a basin can lead to misleading interpretations of the effects of rainfall variability. We begin with the simple scenario of a basin receiving spatially uniform rainfall of varying intensities and durations and subsequently investigate the role of storm advection velocity, storm variability characterized by variance, spatial correlation and intermittency. Finally, we use a realistic space–time rainfall field obtained from a popular rainfall model that combines the aforementioned features. For each of these scenarios, we employ a recent formulation of flow velocity for a network of channels, assume idealized conditions of runoff generation and flow dynamics and calculate peak flow scaling exponents, which are then compared to the scaling exponent of the width function maxima. Our results show that the peak flow scaling exponent is always larger than the width function scaling exponent. The simulation scenarios are used to identify the smaller scale basins, whose response is dominated by the rainfall variability and the larger scale basins, which are driven by rainfall volume, river network aggregation and flow dynamics. The rainfall variability has a greater impact on peak flows at smaller scales. The effect of rainfall variability is reduced for larger scale basins as the river network aggregates and smoothes out the storm variability. The results obtained from simple scenarios are used to make rigorous interpretations of the peak flow scaling structure that is obtained from rainfall generated with the space–time rainfall model and realistic rainfall fields derived from NEXRAD radar data.
Addressing the timing closure problem by integrating logic optimization and placement

Timing closure problems occur when timing estimates computed during logic synthesis do not match with timing estimates computed from the layout of the circuit. In such a situation, logic synthesis and layout synthesis are iterated until the estimates match. The number of such iterations is becoming larger as technology scales. Timing closure problems occur mainly due to the difficulty in accurately predicting interconnect delay during logic synthesis. In this paper, we present an algorithm that integrates logic synthesis and global placement to address the timing closure problem. We introduce technology independent algorithms as well as technology dependent algorithms. Our technology independent algorithms are based on the notion of "wire-planning". All these algorithms interleave their logic operations with local and incremental/full global placement, in order to maintain a consistent placement while the algorithm is run. We show that by integrating logic synthesis and placement, we avoid the need to predict interconnect delay during logic synthesis. We demonstrate that our scheme significantly enhances the predictability of wire delays, thereby solving the timing closure problem. This is the main result of our paper. Our results also show that our algorithms result in a significant reduction in total circuit delay. In addition, our technology independent algorithms result in a significant circuit area reduction.
Grasping Non-stretchable Cloth Polygons

In this paper, we examine non-stretchable two-dimensional polygonal cloth, and place bounds on the number of fingers needed to immobilize it. For any non-stretchable cloth polygon, it is always necessary to pin all of the convex vertices. We show that for some shapes, more fingers are necessary. No more than one-third of the concave vertices need to be pinned for simple polygons, and no more than one-third of the concave vertices plus two fingers per hole are necessary for polygons with holes.
The algebraic topology of Bloch points

Open theoretical problems concerning Bloch points still impede progress in magnetic bubble technology. The author attempts to show why the main approaches to understanding Bloch points are equivalent and have their formal justification in the Hopf extension theorem of algebraic topology. Specifically, E. Feldtkeller's (1965) S/sup 2/ winding number, J.C. Slonzcewski's (1979) gyrovector integral, and the usual topological charge associated with the Heisenberg ferromagnet are seen to be equivalent ways of calculating the degrees of a map into the order parameter space S/sup 2/. This approach is used to clarify the topological constraints which are respected in Bloch point creation and annihilation. The author concludes with some difficult open problems for which the topological approach needs to be supplemented by energetics and numerical simulation. >
The Biochemistry, Ultrastructure, and Subunit Assembly Mechanism of AMPA Receptors

The AMPA-type ionotropic glutamate receptors (AMPA-Rs) are tetrameric ligand-gated ion channels that play crucial roles in synaptic transmission and plasticity. Our knowledge about the ultrastructure and subunit assembly mechanisms of intact AMPA-Rs was very limited. However, the new studies using single particle EM and X-ray crystallography are revealing important insights. For example, the tetrameric crystal structure of the GluA2cryst construct provided the atomic view of the intact receptor. In addition, the single particle EM structures of the subunit assembly intermediates revealed the conformational requirement for the dimer-to-tetramer transition during the maturation of AMPA-Rs. These new data in the field provide new models and interpretations. In the brain, the native AMPA-R complexes contain auxiliary subunits that influence subunit assembly, gating, and trafficking of the AMPA-Rs. Understanding the mechanisms of the auxiliary subunits will become increasingly important to precisely describe the function of AMPA-Rs in the brain. The AMPA-R proteomics studies continuously reveal a previously unexpected degree of molecular heterogeneity of the complex. Because the AMPA-Rs are important drug targets for treating various neurological and psychiatric diseases, it is likely that these new native complexes will require detailed mechanistic analysis in the future. The current ultrastructural data on the receptors and the receptor-expressing stable cell lines that were developed during the course of these studies are useful resources for high throughput drug screening and further drug designing. Moreover, we are getting closer to understanding the precise mechanisms of AMPA-R-mediated synaptic plasticity.
A Unified Approach to Measurement Error and Missing Data: Details and Extensions:

We extend a unified and easy-to-use approach to measurement error and missing data. In our companion article, Blackwell, Honaker, and King give an intuitive overview of the new technique, along with practical suggestions and empirical applications. Here, we offer more precise technical details, more sophisticated measurement error model specifications and estimation procedures, and analyses to assess the approach’s robustness to correlated measurement errors and to errors in categorical variables. These results support using the technique to reduce bias and increase efficiency in a wide variety of empirical research.
The Vertical Partition of Oceanic Horizontal Kinetic Energy

To produce an interpretation of the surface kinetic energy as measured by altimeters, a survey is made of the vertical structure of kinetic energy profiles in a large number of globally distributed long current meter records. Although the data are geographically confined primarily to a latitude band in the North Pacific, to the North Atlantic, and to a few moorings in the South Atlantic, the results show, generally speaking, that most regions are dominated by the barotropic and first baroclinic modes. Because of the near-surface intensification of baroclinic modes altimeters primarily reflect the first baroclinic mode, and thus the motion of the main thermocline. There is good quantitative agreement, with a few exceptions, with estimates of the surface kinetic energy obtained from the TOPEX/POSEIDON altimeter and from vertical extrapolations to the surface of the mooring profiles. These results are consistent with previous suggestions that barotropic models have little skill in depicting variability as seen in the altimeter data. An EOF analysis is shown to produce fictitious mode coupling unless the dynamical modes have very different energy levels.
Molecular evidence on the origin of tetrapods and the relationships of the coelacanth

Coelacanths were believed to have gone extinct more than 80 million years ago - until the sensational rediscovery of one surviving member of this leneage, Latimeria chalumanae, in 1938. Since then, plaeontologists and comparative morphologists have argues whether coelacanths or lungfish (two groups of lobe-finned fish) are the living sistergroup of the third extant lineage, the tetrapods. Recent molecular phylogenetic data on this debate tend to favor the hypothesis that lungfish are the closest relatives of land vertebrates. Somewhat surprisingly, the strongest molecular support for this hypothesis stems from mitochondrial rather than nuclear DNA sequences, despite the expectation that the more-slowly evolving nuclear genes should be more appropriate in addressing a phylogenetic issue involving taxonomic groups that diverged around 400 million years ago. This molecular estimate might serve as a framework to test palepntological and physiological innovations and preadaptations that allowed Devanian lobe-finned fish to colonize land.
Adapting a MIMO/phased-array radar transmit beampattern to target location

Proposed MIMO and hybrid MIMO/phased array (HMPAR) radar systems have the potential for tremendous flexibility in the choice of the transmit beampattern, through the selection of multiple transmitted signals. This paper considers how one might exploit that flexibility in light of prior information or uncertainty in target spatial location, for parameter estimation or tracking applications. We first consider an idealized problem of distributing energy across multiple target sites given a prior probability distribution on those sites. It shown that the optimal allocation of energy would be proportional to the square root of the prior probability. Second, we propose a method to approximate this optimal distribution of energy using a MIMO radar or HMPAR radar system. The method chooses signals that realize an intrapulse beamscan over the region of interest, with a nonuniform distribution of scan points matched to the desired distribution of energy.
MODELING POPULATION GROWTH OF THE OVENBIRD (SEIURUS AUROCAPILLA) IN THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIANS

Abstract Studies of source-sink dynamics are often prompted by concerns about negative population trends. Estimates of population trajectories are usually based on assumptions about survival rates and empirical measures of fecundity. Most models ignore the influence of the rates of renesting and multiple brooding. We used the Ovenbird (Seiurus aurocapilla) as a model Neotropical migratory songbird species to investigate the relative effects of annual female survival and components of annual fecundity on population growth rates. We applied productivity data from a three- year field study and data from Hann (1937) to several models of annual fecundity to examine the sensitivity of lambda to variations in annual female survival and the likelihood of renesting and double-brooding. Our simulations illustrate the importance of incorporating estimates of annual survival and rates of additional breeding attempts in songbird population models because population growth rates are quite sensitive to variations in the...
Reduction in Fecal Excretion of Giardia Cysts: Effect of Cholestasis and Diet

Bile is a major growth factor for the proliferation of Giardia spp. trophozoites in the small intestine and, at high concentrations, stimulates encystment of trophozoites. This report demonstrates that surgical cholestasis to interrupt the flow of bile from liver to intestine or the use of bile-binding resins in the diet can both dramatically decrease the fecal excretion of Giardia muris cysts. Cholestasis produced a 3 log reduction in excretion of G. muris cysts within 24 hr of surgery and a 4 log reduction after 3 days. Sham controls showed no difference in cyst excretion from presurgical control values. Two isocaloric diets were studied: a control diet (N) of Purina mouse chow containing 5% celufil and an experimental diet (CR) containing 5% cholestyramine, a resin that binds bile. Compared with the N diet, the CR diet was associated with reductions in cyst excretion of 3 logs within 1 day. Despite lowered excretion of G. muris cysts in mice fed the cholestyramine diet, the trophozoite recovery from th...
Retropharyngeal Cellulitis: A Manifestation of Kawasaki Disease in Children:

Kawasaki disease (KD) or mucocutaneous lymph node syndrome is an acute febrile illness with prominent vasculitic features. The cause is unknown and the disease is seen most commonly in young childr...
Integrating Professional Identity Formation in Doctrinal Courses

Presentation Materials illustrating how law professor has, following the recommendations of Carnegie Foundations Educating Lawyers Report (2007, and Best Practices for Legal Education (2007), integrated exercises, questions, and hypotheticals into doctrinal course (civil procedure) to challenge students to consider "what kind of lawyer they want to be," what are their values, how they will handle temptations to compromise value, and the importance of preparing to know one's sense of a professional set of guidelines one will follow, to ensure one's own satisfaction as a lawyer -- and to develop professional reputation worthy of respect.