cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Synthesis of self-organized mixed oxide nanotubes by sonoelectrochemical anodization of Ti–8Mn alloy

Abstract Self ordered arrays of titanium manganese mixed oxide nanotubes were prepared by anodization of Ti8Mn alloy (UNS R56080) under ultrasonication in diluted ethylene glycol containing fluoride. The dimensions of the nanotubes (diameter: 20–100 nm and length: 0.5–2.0 μm) could be tuned by changing the synthesis parameters. The as-anodized nanotubes showed a stoichiometry of (Ti,Mn)O 2 . Upon annealing at 500 °C in oxygen atmosphere, the nanotubes contained a mixture of anatase + rutile phases of TiO 2 and Mn 2 O 3 . The composition of the oxide nanotubes was influenced by the chemistry of the phases present in the alloy. More manganese content was observed in the oxide formed on the β-phase than in the oxide layer of α-phase. Anodization in the ultrasonic field increased the kinetics of nanotubular oxide formation and resulted in homogeneous ordering of the nanotubular arrays as compared to the anodization by conventional stirring in the fluoride containing ethylene glycol solution. Whereas, anodization in aqueous acidified fluoride solutions resulted in severe attack of the β-phase and did not show presence of nanotubular oxide structure.
Characterization of ceramic composite materials for gas turbine applications

Ceramic composite materials have the capability to sustain high stress in the presence of high temperatures and aggressive atmospheres. Such materials are being considered for application as cumbustors, burner cubes, heat exchangers, headers. hot-gas filters, and even rotors of stationary gas turbine engines. In the present program, Nicalon preforms of tubular geometry were fabricated with different fiber architectures (filament winding, 3D braiding, or cloth winding) to tailor the mechanical properties for specific applications. However, these applications require that candidate materials be carefully characterized. Mechanical characterization must establish the properties and performance that are essential for structural design of the turbine components. For this purpose, a full complement of properties is needed, i.e., the stiffness and strengths of the composite material at a range of temperatures, and the fatigue and creep behavior of the materials under the stress states anticipated by the user. This mechanical characterization requires specialized equipment and methodologies, which are now under development by the authors. This paper will present a description of the methodologies required for ceramic composite characterization, and will describe initial results for ceramic composite tubes, a representative geometry for gas turbine components. Future needs and opportunities will also be discussed.
A Multiresolution Markov Approach to Model-Based Image Compression

Bonneau, R. J., and Meadows, H. E. A Multiresolution Markov Approach to Model-Based Image Compression, Digital Signal Processing11 (2001) 346?358Currently a large area of research is being devoted to content-based compression due to the JPEG-2000 and MPEG-7 requirements. Recently there has been much work in wavelet and fractal methods for texture and shape segmentation as well as data compression. While these methods do not give optimal least mean square noise performance for a given compression ratio, they contain implicit models for shape and texture coding as a natural part of the compression process. We thus develop an approach for wavelet fractal compression that incorporates these shape and texture models during quantization. Upon decoding, the model regions are preserved for visual or automatic inspection. Our compression models make use of the Mallat Gaussian derivative basis set and an implicit Markov shape and texture structure.
Prosthetic management of patients with pemphigus vulgaris

Pemphigus vulgaris is a vesiculobullous disease affecting skin and mucosa. It is characterized initially by formation of bullae in the mouth, and in its natural course, the disease gradually spreads to involve the skin. Because of the severe cutaneous involvement, the treatment of this disease is primarily in the domain of the dermatologist. Development of oral lesions may precede the skin lesions by as much as 2 years. Therefore, it is not uncommon for a patient having this disease to seek care first from a dentist. The patient’s chief complaint will usually include such symptoms as dry mouth, pain on ingestion of hot or spicy food, and discomfort upon swallowing.‘! 2 Hoarseness of the voice is not uncommon, and conjunctival lesions may accompany the oral 1esions.l Clinical examination of the mouth will often reveal flaccid bullae on the mucous membrane of the buccal mucosa, tongue, and roof of the mouth.‘1 2 However, ruptured bullae are more common, because the bullae are thin walled and extremely fragile when subjected to the slightest mechanical irritation. The ruptured bullae retain tags of the grayish-white epithelial membrane, giving the appearance of a curled-up egg membrane surrounding an ulcer .2 The rupturing of bullae can result in blood-stained saliva.l* 2 A differential diagnosis should include erythema multiforme, erosive lichen planus, and benign mucous membrane pemphigoid.lp S Although cytodiagnosis and serum antibody tests may be helpful adjuncts to a
Interactive presentation: Statistical dual-Vdd assignment for FPGA interconnect power reduction

Field programmable dual- Vdd interconnects are effective to reduce FPGA power. However, the deterministic Vdd assignment leverages timing slack exhaustively and significantly increases the number of near-critical paths, which results in a degraded timing yield with process variation. In this paper, we present two statistical Vdd assignment algorithms. The first greedy algorithm is based on sensitivity while the second one is based on timing slack budgeting. Both minimize chip-level interconnect power without degrading timing yield. Evaluated with MCNC circuits, the statistical algorithms reduce interconnect power by 40% compared to the single- Vdd FPGA with power gating. In contrast, the deterministic algorithm reduces interconnect power by 51% but degrades timing yield from 97.7% to 87.5%.
Differential effects of isolated lipoproteins from normal and hypercholesterolemic rhesus monkeys on cholesterol esterification and accumulation in arterial smooth muscle cells in culture.

Abstract Whole serum obtained from hypercholesterolemic rhesus monkeys was found to stimulate cholesterol esterification and cholesteryl ester accumulation in rhesus monkey arterial smooth muscle cells in culture to a significantly greater extent than normocholesterolemic serum. This was true even when the cholesterol concentration of the culture medium was equalized. Isolation and characterization of the low density lipoproteins (LDL) from rhesus monkeys indicated that the LDL from hypercholesterolemic animals was 33% larger than LDL from normocholesterolemic animals due principally to an increase in the amount of cholesteryl ester per molecule. As a result, LDL from hypercholesterolemic animals transported over 50% more cholesterol per molecule than did normal LDL. The LDL of altered composition from hypercholesterolemic animals, when added to smooth muscle cells in culture, was nearly twice as effective in stimulating cholesterol esterification and cholesteryl ester accumulation than was LDL of normal composition. Results suggest that at least part of the exaggerated ability of whole hypercholesterolemic serum to stimulate the esterification and accumulation of cholesterol in cells in culture is due to the presence of LDL of altered composition.
Elasticity problems with partially overspecified boundary conditions

Abstract Contrary to the conventional problems of elasticity, in which there is one and only one boundary condition (displacements or tractions or a combination of both) specified on every point of the boundary, the problem considered here has two boundary conditions (e.g. both displacements and tractions) imposed on a part of the boundary. For the rest part of the boundary, no boundary condition is available. A formulation of the boundary element method is presented. Applications to various problems including those with plastic deformation are discussed. We confine ourselves to 2-D cases to simplify the notation. The results of this paper can be generalized to 3-D problems without difficulties.
Overdispersed negative binomial regression models

Overdispersion is a common phenomenon in actual data sets. It is important to have methods of dealing with extra variation in regression situations. This article develops tests for extra-negative binomial variation and gives some numerical methods to deal with it. Simulations show power comparisons between some of the overdispersion tests discussed. Finally, an example is given to demonstrate the methods.
113 Does Wound Care Education Speed Healing of Infected, Acute Wounds?

Background: Wound infections cause significant morbidity in women after C-Sections. Regular lectures on wound care were instituted for obstetrical residents at our institution in 1999. We hypothesized that resident education would decrease time to complete closure in post-C-Section wounds healing by secondary intention. Methods: With IRB approval, a retrospective chart review was performed to obtain the following information in patients treated pre (1996–1999) versus post (2000–2003) education intervention: age, race, occupation, social support, medical co-morbidities, medications, week of gestation at delivery, duration of 1st stage of labor, length of ruptured membranes, meconium, chorioamnionitis, Group B Strep status, indications for C-Section, antibiotics, wound treatment, wound culture, wound dressing, time to full closure, number of visits for wound care (home, office), and need for repeat procedures. Results: Data are currently being analyzed. Conclusions: If resident education reduces the time to full closure, then we will evaluate expanding this teaching approach to other departments using a randomized prospective study.
Environmentally Assisted Fatigue Assessment Considering an Alternative Method to the ASME Code Case N-792

The conservatism of the austenitic stainless steel fatigue design curve has been severely questioned since the release of the NUREG/CR-6909 document [1] where a new methodology to assess environmentally assisted fatigue (EAF), including also a new in-air fatigue design curve, have been proposed. In the same way, the ASME Code Case N-792 [2] suggests calculating EAF usage factors via the multiplication of the in-air fatigue usage factors by Fen penalty factors, this resulting in a significant increase of these parameters.In this context, AREVA NP SAS has performed, for several years, its own Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) Low Cycle Fatigue (LCF) test program to better identify environmental effects in representative industrial conditions [3]. Among others, these experimental works have pointed out the over-conservatism of the NUREG/CR-6909 design approach. From these results, AREVA NP SAS has developed an alternative EAF assessment method which has been approved by the Finnish Nuclear Safety Authority [4]. This paper proposes to give an overview of this approach and to illustrate it on an EAF EPRI sample problem [5].Copyright © 2012 by ASME
The Definition of Moving Coordinate Systems in Relativistic Theories

A kinematic analysis is given of the ambiguities which arise in the definitions of moving reference systems when general transformations are allowed on the space-time variables. It is shown how the classical theory permits an extension to any order of kinematic derivatives. In a relativistic treatment only the step to uniformly accelerated motions is possible in a direct manner. The discussion is limited to one-dimensional motions.
Artificial Neural Network Predictions of Degradation of Nonmetallic Lining Materials from Laboratory Tests

Abstract Artificial neural networks are computer simulations that have the potential to find the same patterns that corrosion practitioners recognize to relate experimental test results to lifetime...
LEED measurements of Fe epitaxially grown on Cu(100)

Abstract Iron was epitaxially grown on a Cu(100) surface. Low energy electron diffraction (LEED) intensity versus energy curves were recorded for 1 and 10 layers of iron on Cu(100) at room temperature. A full dynamical analysis was performed using the renormalized forward scattering perturbation method. The surface Debye temperatures were determined to be 233 K for 1 ML Fe and 380 K for 10 layers of Fe. The value obtained for fcc iron was 550 K. A multiple relaxation approach was employed in analyzing the experimental data. The estimated interlayer spacings for the first and second layers were 1.78±0.02 A (first) and 1.81±0.02 A (second) for 1 ML Fe, and 1.81±0.02 A (first) and 1.78±0.02 A (second) for 10 layers of Fe on Cu(100). Auger electron spectroscopy was used to determine the thickness of the Fe films, and the LEED measurements indicate approximately a layer-by-layer growth until about 17 layers at room temperature. At higher temperatures there is evidence of iron diffusion or copper surface segregation.
Diffusion Tensor Imaging of Normal Appearing White Matter and Its Correlation with Cognitive Functioning in Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer's Disease

Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) was used to examine the microstructural integrity of normal appearing white matter (NAWM) in subjects with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's disease (AD). Significant frontal, temporal, and parietal white matter diffusion tensor changes were demonstrated in MCI and AD compared with normal controls. These changes were correlated with cognitive functioning, and are consistent with a hypothesized loss of axonal processes in affected regions.
Comparison of biological effects of a sustained delivery system and nonencapsulated LH-RH antagonist SB-75 in rats.

Abstract Recently, we developed long-acting microcapsules and microgranules of the LH-RH antagonist SB-75. In this study, we compared the inhibitory effects of a single injection of encapsulated and nonencapsulated LH-RH antagonist SB-75 on gonadotropin and testosterone secretion. The resulting serum SB-75 levels were also measured by RIA. Microgranules containing 4% of this antagonist in poly( dl -lactide- co -glycolide) were administered IM at two different doses (30 and 60 mg/rat) to male rats. Other groups of rats were injected SC with equivalent doses of nonencapsulated SB-75 (1.25 and 2.5 mg/rat). The administration of microgranules at a dose of 60 mg/rat produced a significant elevation of serum SB-75 until day 76, and serum testosterone and LH levels were suppressed below the detection limit of the RIA for a period of 70 days. An equivalent dose of nonencapsulated SB-75 acetate (2.5 mg/rat) produced a significant elevation of SB-75 levels for 20 days and decreased testosterone to castration values and LH levels for merely 21 days. In rats treated with 30 mg microgranules of SB-75 or an equivalent dose of SB-75 acetate (1.25 mg/rat), serum testosterone and LH were suppressed to a similar extent, but for only 2 weeks. In another study, the effect of a single SC injection of 1.25 mg/rat of antagonist SB-75 on pituitary LH-RH receptors was determined, 7 and 60 days after administration. SB-75 produced a significant ( p ) downregulation of membrane receptors for LH-RH 7 days after administration. Our results indicate that the suppression of the pituitary-gonadal axis in rats effected by administration of microgranules of LH-RH antagonist SB-75 is more efficacious than that caused by an equivalent dose of unencapsulated SB-75 and suitable doses of microgranules can maintain elevated levels of SB-75 for several weeks.
Identification and characterization of three Encephalitozoon cuniculi strains

Microsporidia are increasingly recognized as causing opportunistic infections in immunocompromised individuals. Encephalitozoon cuniculi is probably the most studied mammalian microsporidian that infects insects and mammals, including man. In this study, 8 E. cuniculi isolates were compared and were found to fall into 3 strains. Strain type I includes the rabbit type isolate, as well as isolates from an additional rabbit, a dwarf rabbit, and a mouse. Strain type II includes 2 murine isolates and strain type III includes 2 isolates obtained from domestic dogs. By SDS-PAGE, the 3 strains differ primarily in the molecular weight range of 54-59 kDa where strain type I displays an apparent broad singlet at 57 kDa, strain type II displays an apparent doublet at 54 and 58 kDa, and strain type III displays an apparent broad band at 59 kDa. Antigenic differences were detected in the molecular weight regions of 54-58 kDa as well as 28-40 kDa by Western blot immunodetection using murine antisera raised against E. cuniculi, Encephalitozoon hellem, and the Encephalitozoon-like Septata intestinalis. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) products containing only small subunit rDNA sequences from the different E. cuniculi isolates formed homoduplexes whereas PCR products containing intergenic rRNA gene sequences formed heteroduplexes in mobility shift analyses. Fok I digestion of the PCR products containing the intergenic rRNA gene region resulted in unique restriction fragment length polymorphism patterns, and DNA sequencing demonstrated that in the intergenic spacer region, the sequence 5'-GTTT-3' was repeated 3 times in strain type I, twice in strain type II, and 4 times in strain type III. This study indicates that there exist at least 3 E. cuniculi strains which may become important in the epidemiology of human E. cuniculi infections. Furthermore, as additional E. cuniculi isolates are characterized, these strains will be named or reclassified once the criteria for taxonomy and phylogenetic tree construction for microsporidia become better defined.
Intraoperative echocardiographic detection of regurgitant jets after valve replacement

BACKGROUND: Paravalvular jets, documented by intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography, have prompted immediate valve explantation by others, yet the significance of these jets is unknown. METHODS: Twenty-seven patients had intraoperative transesophageal two-dimensional color Doppler echocardiography, performed to assess the number and area of regurgitant jets after valve replacement, before and after protamine. Patients were grouped by first time versus redo operation, valve position and type. RESULTS: Before protamine, 55 jets were identified (2.04+/-1.4 per patient) versus 29 jets after (1.07+/-1.2 per patient, p = 0.0002). Total jet area improved from 2.0+/-2.2 cm2 to 0.86+/-1.7 cm2 with protamine (p 0.6). Furthermore, mitral and mechanical valves each had more jets and overall greater jet area when compared to aortic and tissue valves, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Following valve replacement, multiple jets are detected by intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography. They are more common and larger in the mitral position and with mechanical valves. Improvement occurs with reversal of anticoagulation.
Stochastic resonance with multiplicative noise in a three-level atomic bistable system

We experimentally investigate stochastic resonance phenomenon with multiplicative noise in a Λ-type three-level atomic bistable system. The system perturbed by a periodic low frequency forcing term shows an improved signal-to-noise ratio at certain strength of the multiplicative noise applied onto the cavity frequency.
Tools that Come from within: Learning to Teach in a Cross-Cultural Adult Literacy Practicum.

Abstract We report on a study of preservice teachers who tutored adults learning English in a free evening class while simultaneously taking a course titled Community Literacy. Exploring their participation, we wondered in what ways pedagogy developed within this context. Drawing on a close discourse analysis of preservice teachers’ written work, we found that each preservice teacher constructed pedagogy differently but in ways that drew on students’ funds of knowledge, interests, ways of learning, and political interests. Moreover, through reflections on practice, preservice teachers sedimented their identities as teachers who see diversity as a resource in teaching.
CONFIRMATION OF KEY TREAT FINDINGS IN RED-HF, A PLACEBO CONTROLLED HEART FAILURE TRIAL

The Trial to Reduce Cardiovascular Events with Aranesp Therapy (TREAT) demonstrated a heightened risk of stroke associated with Darbepoetin alfa (DA) use. Although stroke was not a primary endpoint, this finding raised significant patient safety concerns. The Reduction of Events by Darbepoetin Alfa
The wounding of Philip II of Macedon: fact and fabrication.

This paper, concerning one element in the ancient biographical tradition of Philip II of Macedon, demonstrates the manner in which facts—that the Macedonian monarch was gravely wounded in the right eye, in the collar bone, and in the leg—become the basis of fictitious fabrications entered into the biographical tradition and accepted as elements of Philip's ‘life’. A diachronic analysis of the complete literary testimonia which convey information concerning these traumata attempts to determine when and how the biographical facts were altered and embellished over the centuries following Philip's death. Since the stunning discovery by Andronicos at Vergina in 1977 of the tomb designated Royal Tomb II, identified by the excavator as the tomb of Philip II, considerable interest has been focused on the wounds of Philip II in linking items recovered from the tomb and the physical remains of the male decedent with the great king of Macedon. A diachronic review of the literary traditions regarding Philip's injuries, useful to those arguing the identification of the occupant of Royal Tomb II, reveals a great deal about ancient biographical practices. Particularly in the case of the blinding wound to Philip's right eye, it is evident that the facts are very soon obscured by an overlay of fictitious embellishments, frequently amusing, which were created to heighten interest in an occurrence of lasting impact on Philip and became stock items in his βίος.
Flow cytometry reveals that H5N1 vaccination elicits cross-reactive stem-directed antibodies from multiple Ig heavy chain lineages

ABSTRACT An understanding of the antigen-specific B-cell response to the influenza virus hemagglutinin (HA) is critical to the development of universal influenza vaccines, but it has not been possible to examine these cells directly because HA binds to sialic acid (SA) on most cell types. Here, we use structure-based modification of HA to isolate HA-specific B cells by flow cytometry and characterize the features of HA stem antibodies (Abs) required for their development. Incorporation of a previously described mutation (Y98F) to the receptor binding site (RBS) causes HA to bind only those B cells that express HA-specific Abs, but it does not bind nonspecifically to B cells, and this mutation has no effect on the binding of broadly neutralizing Abs to the RBS. To test the specificity of the Y98F mutation, we first demonstrated that previously described HA nanoparticles mediate hemagglutination and then determined that the Y98F mutation eliminates this activity. Cloning of immunoglobulin genes from HA-specific B cells isolated from a single human subject demonstrates that vaccination with H5N1 influenza virus can elicit B cells expressing stem monoclonal Abs (MAbs). Although these MAbs originated mostly from the IGHV1-69 germ line, a reasonable proportion derived from other genes. Analysis of stem Abs provides insight into the maturation pathways of IGVH1-69-derived stem Abs. Furthermore, this analysis shows that multiple non-IGHV1-69 stem Abs with a similar neutralizing breadth develop after vaccination in humans, suggesting that the HA stem response can be elicited in individuals with non-stem-reactive IGHV1-69 alleles. IMPORTANCE Universal influenza vaccines would improve immune protection against infection and facilitate vaccine manufacturing and distribution. Flu vaccines stimulate B cells in the blood to produce antibodies that neutralize the virus. These antibodies target a protein on the surface of the virus called HA. Flu vaccines must be reformulated annually, because these antibodies are mostly specific to the viral strains used in the vaccine. But humans can produce broadly neutralizing antibodies. We sought to isolate B cells whose genes encode influenza virus antibodies from a patient vaccinated for avian influenza. To do so, we modified HA so it would bind only the desired cells. Sequencing the antibody genes of cells marked by this probe proved that the patient produced broadly neutralizing antibodies in response to the vaccine. Many sequences obtained had not been observed before. There are more ways to generate broadly neutralizing antibodies for influenza virus than previously thought.
Inhibition and enhancement of microbial surface colonization: the role of silicate composition

Classical treatment of cell attachment by models of filtration or coulombic attraction assumes that attachment of cells to mineral surfaces would be controlled by factors such as response to predation, collision efficiency, or coulombic attraction between the charged groups at the mineral and cell surfaces. In the study reported here, the passive model of attachment was investigated using a native microbial consortium and a variety of Al- and Fe-bearing silicates and oxides to determine if other controls, such as mineral composition, also influence the interaction between cells and surfaces. Results from in situ colonization studies in an anaerobic groundwater at pH 6.8 combined with most probable number analyses (MPN) of surface-adherent cells demonstrate that electrostatic effects dominate microbial colonization on positively charged oxide surfaces regardless of mineral composition. In contrast, on negatively charged silicate minerals and glasses, the solid phase composition is a factor in determining the extent of microbial colonization, as well as the diversity of the attached community. In particular, silicates containing more than 1.2% Al exhibit less biomass than Al-poor silicates and MPN suggests a shift in community diversity, possibly indicating Al toxicity on these surfaces. When Fe is present in the silicate, however, this trend is reversed and abundant colonization of the surface is observed. Here, microorganisms preferentially colonize those silicate surfaces that offer beneficial nutrients and avoid those that contain potentially toxic elements.
Quantification of low concentrations of DNA using single molecule detection and velocity measurement in a microchannel.

We present a novel method for quantifying low concentrations of DNA based on single molecule detection (SMD) for molecular counting and flow measurements inside a microchannel. A custom confocal fluorescence spectroscopic system is implemented to detect fluorescent bursts emitted from stained DNA molecules. Measurements are made one molecule at a time as they flow through a femtoliter-sized laser focal probe. Durations of single molecule fluorescent bursts, which are found to be strongly related to the molecular transit times through the detection region, are statistically analyzed to determine the in situ flow speed and subsequently the sample volume flowing through the focal probe. Therefore, the absolute concentration of a DNA sample can be quantified based on the single molecule fluorescent counts from the DNA molecules and the associated probe volume for a measured time course. To validate this method for quantifying low concentrations of biomolecules, we tested samples of pBR322 DNA ranging from 1 pM to 10 fM (∼3 ng/ml to 30 pg/ml). Besides molecular quantification, we also demonstrate this method to be a precise and non-invasive way for flow profiling within a microchannel.
Survival of a Rifampicin-Resistant Pseudomonas fluorescens Strain in Nine Mollisols

Pseudomonas fluorescens strain D7 (P.f. D7) is a naturally occurring soil bacterium that shows promise as a biological herbicide to inhibit growth of annual grass weeds, including downy brome (Bromus tectorum L.), in crop- and rangelands. Pseudomonas fluorescens strain D7rif (P.f. D7rif) is a rifampicin-resistant strain of P.f. D7. One of the greatest obstacles to successful biological weed control is survival of the organism under field conditions. Nine soils in the taxonomic order of Mollisols, collected from downy brome-infested areas of the Western and Central United States, were inoculated with P.f. D7rif and incubated in the laboratory to determine the effects of soil type, soil properties, incubation temperature, and soil water potential on survival of P.f. D7rif over 63 days. Silt loam soils from Lind, Washington, and Moro, Oregon, sustained the highest P.f. D7rif populations, and recovery was the lowest from Pendleton, Oregon soil. Survival and recovery of P.f. D7rif varied with soil type and temperature but not with the two soil water potentials tested. After 63 days, P.f. D7rif was recovered at levels greater than log 5.5 colony forming units (CFU) g−1 soil from five of the nine test soils, a level adequate to suppress downy brome under field or range conditions.
Invariant subspaces for certain linear transformations on a space of tensors

Suppose each ofm, n and k is a positive integer. If p > 1, then S(m,p) denotes a certain inner product space whose elements are the real-valued symmetric p-linear functions on Em . If A ϵ0 S(m,n) and B ϵ S(m,k), then the tensor and symmetric products are denoted by A ⨷ B and A · B, respectively. If k > n, then by AB is meant the member of S(m,k — n) such that (AB)(x1,x2,…,xk-n) = for all x1,x2,…,xk-n in Em . If A ϵ S(m,n) and p ≥ n, then the linear operators Mp and Gp are defined as follows: if B ϵ S(m,p) then Mp(B) = A(A · B) and Gp(B) = A(A · B). These operators originally appeared in [1], and certain properties of these operators, especially minimum eigenvalue estimates for MP , have been crucial to results in partial differential equations appearing in the recent papers of Neuberger (see [1], [2], and [3]). In this paper it is shown that under certain conditions on A there exists a resolution of the identity on S(m,p) each of whose members commutes with Mp and Gp . This establish...
A System to Understand Human-Machine Function Allocation Issues in Visual Inspection

Product inspection is an important step in ensuring product quality with one of its most important tasks being visual inspection. If an inspection is to be successful, it is critical that the various functions constituting an inspection task be performed optimally. An inspection task typically consists of the following functions: orientation, search, decision-making, and recording. Orientation and recording, essentially manual activities, are best automated. The search and decision-making functions, however, are essentially cognitive activities and have been shown to be the most important determinants of inspection performance that system designers need guidance in allocating. With the customer demand for zero defects in products, 100% inspection using automated systems has seen more frequent application than traditional sampling inspection using human inspectors. Despite the advantages of automation, these inspection systems often fail to meet expectations primarily because they ignore humans' ability in...
Development of a nonhuman primate model for Trichomonas vaginalis infection.

Objective Trichomoniasis, caused by Trichomonas vaginalis, is a prevalent sexually transmitted infection associated with increased risk of HIV infection. An animal model of T. vaginalis infection would enable scientists to further investigate trichomoniasis. Study design Seven macaques (4 test vs. 3 control) were enrolled in a 2-week pilot study. Eight additional animals participated in a 2-arm (T. vaginalis vs. sham inoculated) crossover study lasting 5 weeks before treatment. In all, 12 Macaca nemestrina monkeys were challenged with a single intravaginal inoculation of 6.6 to 7.1 x 10(5) trichomonads (ATCC 50148). Vaginal culture (InPouch TV), colposcopy, microbiology, pH, and cervical cytokines were assessed at baseline, day 2, and weekly thereafter. Results Ten of 12 challenged animals tested positive for trichomoniasis for 2 weeks or longer. One animal tested positive on days 2 and 7 but negative thereafter. Only one animal was not infected. Oral metronidazole treatment (35 mg/kg per day for 3 days) resolved infection in all animals. Trichomoniasis infection did not lead to shifts in vaginal microbiology or pH. Conclusions A single T. vaginalis inoculation results in persistent infection in the pigtailed macaque.
The Effect of Proteoglycans on the Morphology of Collagen Fibrils Formed In Vitro

The morphology of collagen fibrils at various times during formation in vitro was quantitatively examined by negative staining and by scanning electron microscopy. The presence of a small dermatan sulfate proteoglycan from bovine tendon (5 micrograms proteoglycan/100 micrograms collagen) resulted in collagen fibrils that were significantly thinner in width at all times by both methodologies. The rate of fibril diameter increase was also retarded by the small proteoglycans, suggesting that they inhibited the lateral aggregation of forming collagen fibrils. Large proteoglycans from cartilage did not produce this effect.
NGOs and the Humanitarian Impulse: Some Have It Right

In a response to Pasic and Weiss, Natsios supports the authors' critique of the unintended political consequences of relief interventions but takes issue with their portrayal of the International Committee of the Red Cross. Natsios asserts that the authors misrepresent the doctrine of the ICRC in associating it with a mission of “restorative” rescue, one that is purely custodial in nature and blind to political problems. While the ICRC does support political reform, it maintains that relief should not be contingent upon or advance reform efforts. In conclusion, Natsios argues for case-by-case decisions on the objectives of each intervention, based on an approach that falls in between restorative rescue and revolutionary intervention in Pasic and Weiss' framework.
Fluorescence imaging to study cancer burden on lymph nodes

Morbidity and complexity involved in lymph node staging via surgical resection and biopsy calls for staging techniques that are less invasive. While visible blue dyes are commonly used in locating sentinel lymph nodes, since they follow tumor-draining lymphatic vessels, they do not provide a metric to evaluate presence of cancer. An area of active research is to use fluorescent dyes to assess tumor burden of sentinel and secondary lymph nodes. The goal of this work was to successfully deploy and test an intra-nodal cancer-cell injection model to enable planar fluorescence imaging of a clinically relevant blue dye, specifically methylene blue along with a cancer targeting tracer, Affibody labeled with IRDYE800CW and subsequently segregate tumor-bearing from normal lymph nodes. This direct-injection based tumor model was employed in athymic rats (6 normal, 4 controls, 6 cancer-bearing), where luciferase-expressing breast cancer cells were injected into axillary lymph nodes. Tumor presence in nodes was confirmed by bioluminescence imaging before and after fluorescence imaging. Lymphatic uptake from the injection site (intradermal on forepaw) to lymph node was imaged at approximately 2 frames/minute. Large variability was observed within each cohort.
Naive preon chiral dynamics

Abstract I prove that, if both spin 1 2 constituents and composites are massless, the naive idea of the quark model works. The concepts of valence quarks and their “spatial” permutation symmetry are meaningful; the picture of valence quarks moving in the momentum space is useful. When discussing the Pati-Salam model of composite leptons and quarks with seven preons and Pati's type of abelian binding force, I find that it has naturally four generations and the transition moments between generations are zero.
Direct visualization by electron microscopy of the weakly bound intermediates in the actomyosin adenosine triphosphatase cycle

We used a novel stopped-flow/rapid-freezing machine to prepare the transient intermediates in the actin-myosin adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase) cycle for direct observation by electron microscopy. We focused on the low affinity complexes of myosin-adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and myosin-adenosine diphosphate (ADP)-Pi with actin filaments since the transition from these states to the high affinity actin-myosin-ADP and actin-myosin states is postulated to generate the molecular motion that drives muscle contraction and other types of cellular movements. After rapid freezing and metal replication of mixtures of myosin subfragment-1, actin filaments, and ATP, the structure of the weakly bound intermediates is indistinguishable from nucleotide-free rigor complexes. In particular, the average angle of attachment of the myosin head to the actin filament is approximately 40 degrees in both cases. At all stages in the ATPase cycle, the configuration of most of the myosin heads bound to actin filaments is similar, and the part of the myosin head preserved in freeze-fracture replicas does not tilt by more than a few degrees during the transition from the low affinity to high affinity states. In contrast, myosin heads chemically cross-linked to actin filaments differ in their attachment angles from ordered at 40 degrees without ATP to nearly random in the presence of ATP when viewed by negative staining (Craig, R., L.E. Greene, and E. Eisenberg. 1985. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 82:3247–3251, and confirmed here), freezing in vitreous ice (Applegate, D., and P. Flicker. 1987. J. Biol. Chem. 262:6856–6863), and in replicas of rapidly frozen samples. This suggests that many of the cross-linked heads in these preparations are dissociated from but tethered to the actin filaments in the presence of ATP. These observations suggest that the molecular motion produced by myosin and actin takes place with the myosin head at a point some distance from the actin binding site or does not involve a large change in the shape of the myosin head.
Structural brain abnormalities in patients with schizophrenia, epilepsy, and epilepsy with chronic interictal psychosis

Chronic interictal psychotic syndromes, often resembling schizophrenia, develop in some patients with epilepsy. Although widespread brain abnormalities are recognized as characteristic of schizophrenia, prevailing but controversial hypotheses on the co-occurrence of epilepsy and psychosis implicate left temporal lobe pathology. In this study, quantitative MRI methods were used to address the regional specificity of structural brain abnormalities in patients with epilepsy plus chronic interictal psychosis (E+PSY, n=9) relative to three comparison groups: unilateral temporal lobe epilepsy without chronic psychosis (TLE, n=18), schizophrenia (SCZ, n=46), and healthy control subjects (HC, n=57). Brain measures, derived from a coronal spin-echo MRI sequence, were adjusted for age and cerebral volume. Relative to HC, all patient groups had ventricular enlargement and smaller temporal lobe, frontoparietal, and superior temporal gyrus gray matter volumes, with the extent of these abnormalities greatest in E+PSY. Only TLE had temporal lobe white matter deficits, as well as smaller hippocampi, which were ipsilateral to the seizure focus. Structural brain abnormalities in E+PSY are not restricted to the left temporal lobe. The confluence of cortical gray matter deficits in E+PSY and SCZ suggests salience to chronic psychosis.
Taking the time to care: empowering low health literacy hospital patients with virtual nurse agents

Ninety million Americans have inadequate health literacy, resulting in a reduced ability to read and follow directions in the healthcare environment. We describe an animated, empathic virtual nurse interface for educating and counseling hospital patients with inadequate health literacy in their hospital beds at the time of discharge. The development methodology, design rationale, and two iterations of user testing are described. Results indicate that hospital patients with low health literacy found the system easy to use, reported high levels of satisfaction, and most said they preferred receiving the discharge information from the agent over their doctor or nurse. Patients also expressed appreciation for the time and attention provided by the virtual nurse, and felt that it provided an additional authoritative source for their medical information.
On some exotic finite subgroups of E8 and Springer’s regular elements of the Weyl group

A proof (by Serre and by Cohen, Griess and Lisser) verified, in the special case of E8, a conjecture of mine, that the finite projective group L2(61) embeds in \( {E_8}\left( \mathbb{C} \right) \). Subsequently, Griess and Ryba have shown (using computers) that L2(49) and, in addition, (established by Serre without computers) L2(41) also embed in \( {E_8}\left( \mathbb{C} \right) \). That is, if K = 30, 24, 20 and k ∈ K then L2(2k + 1) embeds in \( {E_8}\left( \mathbb{C} \right) \). In this paper we show that the “Borel” subgroup B(k) of L2(2k + 1), k ∈ K, has a uniform construction. The theorem uses a result of T. Springer on the existence in \( {E_8}\left( \mathbb{C} \right) \) of three regular elements of the Weyl group, having orders k ∈ K, and associated to the regular, subregular and subsubregular nilpotent elements. Springer’s result generalizes (in the E8 case) a 1959 general result of mine relating the principal nilpotent element with the Coxeter element.
Using cold roll bonding and annealing to process Ti/Al multi-layered composites from elemental foils

In this study, multi-layered Ti/Al composites were prepared using a cyclic cold roll bonding/annealing process. The effect of initial thickness reduction by cold roll bonding and cyclic cold roll bonding/annealing on the formation and development of the titanium aluminide phase has been investigated in detail. The phases formed were characterized using light microscopy equipped with digital image analysis system and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) equipped with energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). The thermodynamics and kinetics of the diffusion reaction were investigated using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and enthalpy (H), entropy (S) and capacity (C) thermodynamic calculations. The diffusion reaction mechanism at this stage was discussed.
Numerical dynamic simulation of solid-fluid reactions in isothermal porous spheres

Abstract In the last twelve years, there has been considerable effort expended to obtain numerical solutions for the partial differential equations which describe the isothermal reactions between a porous sphere of solid reactants and surrounding fluid reactants. In such models, the PDEs for the conservation of solid reactant reduce to temporal ordinary differential equations. The transient responses of the conservation of fluid reactant equations are so much faster than those of the solid reactant equations that the pseudo-steady state assumption is often invoked. This reduces the conservation of fluid reactant equations to spatial ODES with split boundary conditions. It is shown here that accurate and efficient numerical solutions can be obtained if the temporal derivative terms are retained in the fluid reactant PDEs and a stiff system solver is used to integrate the resulting discretized set of coupled nonlinear temporal ODEs. This approach is called the method of lines. In most cases, especially those with steep fronts in the spatial profiles, this solution method is less costly than that with the pseudo-steady state assumption. The method of lines strategy is described in detail for the problem with two solid reactants and one fluid reactant. In a moderately steep case, the solution of the coupled time-dependent equations is shown to be more than 100 times faster than solution by alternate application of a two-point boundary-value problem solver to the pseudo-steady state fluid equations and explicit integration of the temporal solid equations. In very steep cases, the solution of the time-dependent equations is accomplished economically, while the alternative method failed to produce acceptable solutions.
Density-functional theory for ensembles of fractionally occupied states. I. Basic formalism.

A density-functional theory for ensembles of unequally weighted states is formulated on the basis of the generalized Rayleigh-Ritz principle of the preceding paper. From this formalism, two alternative approaches to the computation of excitation energies are derived, one equivalent to the equiensemble method proposed by Theophilou [J. Phys. C 12, 5419 (1979)], the other grounded on an expression relating the excitation energies to the Kohn-Sham single-particle eigenvalues.
Genetic Variation in Structure-Function Relationships for the Inbred Mouse Lumbar Vertebral Body

Structure-function relationships were determined for L5 vertebral bodies from three inbred mouse strains. Genetic variability in whole bone mechanical properties could be explained by a combination of the traits specifying the amount, distribution, and quality of the cortical and trabecular bone tissue. Introduction: Although phenotypically correlated with fracture, BMD may be disadvantageous to use in genetic and biomechanical analyses because BMD does not distinguish the contributions of the underlying morphological and compositional bone traits. Developing functional relationships between the underlying bone traits and whole bone mechanical properties should further our understanding of the genetics of bone fragility. Materials and Methods: Microarchitecture and composition of L5 vertebral bodies (n = 10/strain) from A/J, C57BL/6J, and C3H/HeJ inbred mouse strains were determined using μCT with an isotropic voxel size of 16 μm3. Failure load, stiffness, and total deformation as a measure of ductility were measured in compression using a noncontact strain extensometer imaging system. A correlation analysis related morphological and compositional bone traits to whole bone mechanical properties. A multivariate analysis identified structure-function relationships for each genotype. Results: No single bone trait accurately explained the genetic variation in mechanical properties. However, a combination of traits describing the amount, distribution, and quality of cortical and trabecular bone tissue explained >70% of the variation in vertebral mechanical properties. Importantly, structure-function relationships were unique among genotypes. Conclusions: Different genetic backgrounds use different combinations of underlying bone traits to create mechanically functional structures. Using a single complex trait such as BMD or BV/TV as the sole phenotypic marker in genetic analyses may prove to be disadvantageous because of the complex relationship between mechanical properties and the underlying bone traits. Therefore, considering multiple bone traits and the interaction among these bone traits is necessary to understand the relationship between genetic background and complex whole bone mechanical properties.
A Unique Effect in Fanconi Anemia: Apparent Decrease of Only Type I Collagen Formation by Increased Amounts of Endogenous Growth Hormone

A Unique Effect in Fanconi Anemia: Apparent Decrease of Only Type I Collagen Formation by Increased Amounts of Endogenous Growth Hormone