cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Investigation on the effects of cultivation conditions, fed-batch operation, and enzymatic hydrolysate of corn stover on the astaxanthin production by Thraustochytrium striatum

Abstract Marine protists have recently been studied for the production of high-value bioactive compounds such as polyunsaturated fatty acids and carotenoids. This paper researched astaxanthin production by Thraustochytrium striatum. The studies on carbon and nitrogen sources showed that glucose and yeast extract + peptone (YEP) were the best C and N sources, respectively to achieve maximum cell growth and astaxanthin concentration/content except that ammonia chloride led to the maximum astaxanthin content. The effects of cultivation conditions were comprehensively studied on cell growth and astaxanthin production including glucose/YEP concentrations, salinity, initial medium pH, and temperature. The optimum cultivation conditions favoring cell growth were 40 g/L of glucose, 16 g/L of YEP, 100% artificial seawater of salinity, initial pH 7.0, and 15 °C. The favorable growth conditions were almost consistent with that for astaxanthin concentration, but not for astaxanthin content of cells. Glucose concentration of 40 g/L achieved the highest astaxanthin concentration of 1.5 mg/L, but the maximum astaxanthin content of 0.5 mg/g dry cell mass occurred at 100 g/L of glucose. In addition, 4.0 g/L instead of 16 g/L of YEP led to the maximum astaxanthin concentration and content. Certain oxidative stress including aeration, H2O2 and illumination were found to effectively induce astaxanthin production, but need to be well controlled at certain level. In general, unfavorable growth conditions caused growth stress that stimulated astaxanthin accumulation in cells. Using pure glucose and enzymatic hydrolysate of NaOH pretreated corn stover as a carbon source separately, we found that fed-batch was more effective than batch to achieve both high cell mass and astaxanthin production. With glucose, about double cell mass and triple astaxanthin content were achieved by fed-batch, reaching 9.7 g/L and 6.2 mg/L, respectively. The enzymatic hydrolysate could be low cost carbon source for astaxanthin production by T. striatum.
Non-radiometric Cell-free Assay to Measure the Effect of Molecular Chaperones on AMP-activated Kinase Activity

AMP-activated kinase (AMPK) is a trimeric protein holoenzyme with kinase activity. AMPK plays an important role in cellular metabolism and is thought to function as a fuel sensor within the cell, exerting kinase activity to activate energy-conserving pathways and simultaneously inhibit energy-consuming pathways. Traditional in vitro methods to measure AMPK activity to test potential agonists or antagonists utilize radiolabeled ATP with a peptide substrate. Although radiolabeling provides a high level of sensitivity, this approach is not ideal for medium to high-throughput screening, dose-response curves, or kinetic analyses. Our protocol utilizes Invitrogen’s Z’-LYTE™ Kinase Assay Kit (Ser/Thr 23 Peptide) to measure changes in the enzymatic activity of AMPKɑ2β1γ1 in the presence of a molecular chaperone. The Z’-LYTE™ platform is based on Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET). The AMPK peptide substrate (S/T 23 peptide: MRPRKRQGSVRRRV) is a self-contained FRET system, using coumarin as the donor and fluorescein as the acceptor. When the peptide is phosphorylated, it is sensitive to cleavage by a site-specific protease. The cleavage of the phospho-peptide eliminates the FRET pair, and the ratiometric analysis of FRET is used as an indirect measure of AMPK kinase activity. This method does not require the use of radiolabeling or antibodies and is used in a multi-well format, with high reproducibility and throughput capabilities.
Effect of 2,4-D and triclopyr on annual bedding plants.

Abstract Greenhouse trials were conducted to evaluate annual flower response to simulated drift of Weedar 64 (dimethylamine salt of 2,4-D) and Turflon Amine (triethylamine salt of triclopyr). Matur...
Prevalence of Ocular Pathology on Initial Screening and Incidence of New Findings on Follow-up Examinations in Children With Trisomy 21.

Purpose Various ophthalmologic findings have been associated with trisomy 21. However, prior studies on this topic are limited by their sample size and the lack of follow-up regarding the incidence of new pathology after an initially normal examination. We determined whether children who have a normal first examination need to have formal reevaluation by an ophthalmologist. Design Retrospective cohort study. Methods Records were reviewed for 689 patients with trisomy 21 evaluated at Vanderbilt Eye Institute between 2012 and 2017. Ocular and refractive abnormalities present on initial screening were recorded and follow-up data were reviewed to determine if new abnormalities developed at subsequent visits. Results Of the 689 patients, 410 (59.5%) had a significant finding on their first examination. The most common abnormalities seen on initial screening examination were strabismus, significant refractive error, and eyelid abnormalities (including ectropion and accessory puncta). Of the 279 initially normal patients, 179 had at least 1 follow-up visit at a mean follow-up interval of 21.6 months (average age 3.7 years). At the first follow-up visit, 129 remained normal, while 50 had a new abnormality, most commonly significant refractive error and strabismus. On second follow-up visit, at a mean follow-up interval of 12 months (average age 4.8 years), 63% remained normal. Conclusions Ocular pathology occurs in trisomy 21 at a much higher prevalence than the general population; thus these children initially should have a comprehensive eye examination. Although the development of new ocular pathology in a child with trisomy 21 and a previously normal examination is not unusual, most of these new abnormalities are detectable with automated vision screening techniques or direct visual inspection of the eyes and ocular adnexa; thus once a child has a normal examination, a formal vision screening could replace a formal ophthalmologic examination.
NP7 Effectiveness of Supports for Family Mealtimes on Obesity Prevention Among Head Start Preschoolers: Screening Phase Results From the Simply Dinner Study

Objective While obesity prevention efforts emphasize the importance of healthy family meals, few studies have addressed instrumental barriers to family meals as an obesity prevention strategy. Therefore, our study objectives are to: Phase 1 - test the additive effects of six intervention components reflecting differing levels of supports for family mealtimes; identify components associated with family meals and dietary outcomes in a Screening Phase and Phase 2 - evaluate the identified components as an intervention in a randomized controlled trial in a Confirming Phase. Description Phase 1 (n = 499 children from Head Start/parents) analyses indicated that the provision of healthy meals and cookware/dinnerware sets was most robustly associated with mealtime frequency and dietary quality. In Phase 2, participants in the treatment condition receive two prepared meals delivered weekly by Meals on Wheels for 12 weeks and a comprehensive set of cookware/dinnerware. We have enrolled 58 pilot parent-child dyads (Mage parents = 31.12 years, SD = 7.97; Mage children = 4.21 years, SD = 0.52) who reflect a racially diverse, low-income sample. 75% of parents/27% of children are overweight/obese and 57% of families were food insecure at enrollment. Recruitment for an additional 250 children/parents is underway. Evaluation Given the small pilot, we utilized descriptive analyses of pre-post changes in mean scores, with Cohen's d compared to the control condition noted. The pilot intervention showed pre-post increases in the frequency of eating meals together (d = 0.13), increases in efficacy in mealtime planning (d = 0.27) and decreases in time barriers regarding meal preparation (d = -0.36). Children's body mass index z-score decreased in the treatment and control groups. Conclusion and Implications Preliminary pilot results suggest the provision of healthy, prepared meals may be related to greater frequency of family meals eaten together and improvements in perceived barriers to planning and preparing meals. At the conclusion of Phase 2, study results are expected to inform policy (e.g. where limited resources may be best allocated) and interventions (e.g. supports most effective in promoting family meals).
The “Reconstructed Mark” and the Reconstruction of Q: A Valid Analogy?:

Described as a “thought experiment” by a number of scholars, Mark’s Gospel as reconstructed exclusively from its reception by Matthew and Luke has been repeatedly advanced as a challenge to the rec...
In Search of the Missing Narrative: Children of Polish Deportees in Great Britain

The trauma of forced migration is not only detrimental for the victims themselves, but can overcast subsequent generations as well. This article examines the role of the family narrative in the case of Polish deportees and their descendants. Drawing upon Aleida and Jan Assmann's concepts of communicative and cultural memory, I address how the development of self-construction and identity of the second generation was impeded by their parents' difficulties to verbalize a traumatic past. I argue that aside from the communicative memory, the cultural memory of this group was affected as well as their experiences of victimization were politically and socially not recognized.
Greenhouse gas emissions from lignocellulose-amended soil treatment areas for removal of nitrogen from wastewater.

Abstract Lignocellulose-amended, layered soil treatment areas (STAs) remove nitrogen (N) passively from wastewater by sequential nitrification and denitrification. As wastewater percolates through the STA, the top sand layer promotes nitrification, and the lower, lignocellulos-amended sand layer promotes heterotrophic denitrification. Layered STAs can remove large amounts of N from wastewater, which may increase their emissions of CO2, N2O, and CH4 to the atmosphere. We measured greenhouse gas (GHG) flux from sawdust-amended (Experimental) and sand-only (Control) STAs installed in three homes in southeastern Massachusetts, USA. The Experimental STAs did not emit significantly more GHGs to the atmosphere than Control STAs receiving the same wastewater inputs, and both Control and Experimental STAs emitted more CO2 and N2O – but not CH4 – than soil not treating wastewater. Median (range) flux (μmol m−2 s−1) for all homes for the Control STAs was 7.6 (0.8–23.0), 0.0001 (−0.0004–0.004), and 0.0008 (0–0.02) for CO2, CH4 and N2O, respectively, whereas values for the Experimental STAs were 6.6 (0.3–24.3), 0 (−0.0005–0.005), and 0.0004 (0–0.02) for CO2, CH4 and N2O, respectively. Despite the absence of differences in flux between Control and Experimental STAs, the Experimental STA had significantly higher subsurface GHG levels than the Control STA, suggesting microbial consumption of excess gas levels near the ground surface in the Experimental STA. The flux of GHGs from Experimental and Control STAs was controlled chiefly by temperature, soil moisture, and subsurface GHG concentrations. Total emissions (gCO2e capita−1 day−1) were higher than those reported by others for conventional STAs, with mean values ranging from 0 to 1835 for septic tanks, and from 30 to 1938 for STAs. Our results suggest that, despite a higher capacity to remove N from wastewater, layered STAs may have limited impact on air quality compared to conventional STAs.
Migration’s Alienations: Bertolt Brecht’s Mother Courage

Brecht’s so-called anti-war drama Mother Courage and her Children (1939) will be read as a migration drama that demystifies rhetorical cynicism as a coping device for the traumatic torments of migration. By placing Brecht’s work in the context of Peter Sloterdijk’s theory of cynicism, our reading demonstrates how this work adds further perspectives to Thomas Nail’s recent theory of migration and to the discussion of the play’s theatrical production.
In Vivo Efficacy of Antifungal Oxoaporphine Alkaloids in Experimental Disseminated Candidiasis

The efficacy of three antifungal oxoaporphine alkaloids, liriodenine, liriodenine methiodide, and oxoglaucine methiodide, was determined in a mouse model of disseminated candidiasis. Mice infected with a lethal dose of Candida albicans NIH B311 were administered varying doses of each drug intraperitoneally or intravenously 7 hr postinfection. Reductions in the number of colony-forming units (CPU) recovered per milligram of kidney tissue were observed in drug-treated animals compared to vehicle-treated control mice. Significance was determined by the Wilcoxon nonparametric rank sum test. Intravenous administration of both liriodenine and liriodenine methiodide resulted in a significant reduction in the number of recovered CFU, while there was no significant response to treatment with oxoglaucine methiodide.
Information-geometry of physics-informed statistical manifolds and its use in data assimilation

The data-aware method of distributions (DA-MD) is a low-dimension data assimilation procedure to forecast the behavior of dynamical systems described by differential equations. It combines sequential Bayesian update with the MD, such that the former utilizes available observations while the latter propagates the (joint) probability distribution of the uncertain system state(s). The core of DA-MD is the minimization of a distance between an observation and a prediction in distributional terms, with prior and posterior distributions constrained on a statistical manifold defined by the MD. We leverage the information-geometric properties of the statistical manifold to reduce predictive uncertainty via data assimilation. Specifically, we exploit the information geometric structures induced by two discrepancy metrics, the Kullback-Leibler divergence and the Wasserstein distance, which explicitly yield natural gradient descent. To further accelerate optimization, we build a deep neural network as a surrogate model for the MD that enables automatic differentiation. The manifold's geometry is quantified without sampling, yielding an accurate approximation of the gradient descent direction. Our numerical experiments demonstrate that accounting for the information-geometry of the manifold significantly reduces the computational cost of data assimilation by facilitating the calculation of gradients and by reducing the number of required iterations. Both storage needs and computational cost depend on the dimensionality of a statistical manifold, which is typically small by MD construction. When convergence is achieved, the Kullback-Leibler and $L_2$ Wasserstein metrics have similar performances, with the former being more sensitive to poor choices of the prior.
Exterior, Inc.’s Strategy Success Story

Mitigating inhibitors and implementing the enablers of strategy planning at a company may seem intuitive and easy, but it requires a deep commitment from the CEO and senior executives. To achieve transformative results through strategy planning, senior executives need to show humility, realizing the toxic hold that inhibitors have on the strategy planning process and deliberately moving away from them. Exterior, a premium-price roof manufacturer, represents a company where the CEO, working diligently with his team of senior executives, transformed the company strategy process, strategy, and financial success through three phases: a strategy dilemma, a shift to customer-focused strategy formulation, and committing to customer-focused strategy implementation. Each phase illustrates the dilemmas of strategy planning (Chap. 1), frustration of the CEO (Chap. 2), the potential inhibitors (Chap. 7), and the strategy enablers (Chap. 8). Exterior’s experience serves as a powerful reminder that implementing an enabled-strategy process requires complete the unwavering commitment and support of the entire senior-executive team.
SARS-CoV-2 Infection Dynamics in Lungs of African Green Monkeys

Detailed knowledge about the dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 infection is important for unraveling the viral and host factors that contribute to COVID-19 pathogenesis. Old-World nonhuman primates recapitulate mild-moderate COVID-19 cases, thereby serving as important pathogenesis models. We compared African green monkeys inoculated with SARS-CoV-2 or inactivated virus to study the dynamics of virus replication throughout the respiratory tract. RNA sequencing of single cells from the lungs and mediastinal lymph nodes allowed a high-resolution analysis of virus replication and host responses over time. Viral replication was mainly localized to the lower respiratory tract, with evidence of replication in the pneumocytes. Macrophages were found to play a role in initiating a pro-inflammatory state in the lungs, while also interacting with infected pneumocytes. Our dataset provides a detailed view of changes in host and virus replication dynamics over the course of mild COVID-19 and serves as a valuable resource to identify therapeutic targets. Funding: This work is supported by the Intramural Research Program of NIAID, NIH. Conflict of Interest: The authors have no competing interests to declare. Ethical Approval: All animal experiments were approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of Rocky Mountain Laboratories, NIH and carried out by certified staff in an Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care (AAALAC) International accredited facility, according to the institution’s guidelines for animal use, following the guidelines and basic principles in the NIH Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals, the Animal Welfare Act, United States Department of Agriculture and the United States Public Health Service Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals.
Murine Type III interferons are functionally redundant and correlate with bacterial burden during influenza/bacterial super-infection.

Background Type III interferon, or interferon lambda (IFNλ) is a crucial antiviral cytokine induced by influenza infection. While IFNλ is important for anti-viral host defense, published data demonstrate that IFNλ is pathogenic during influenza/bacterial super-infection. It is known that polymorphisms in specific IFNλ genes affect influenza responses, but the effect of IFNλ subtypes on bacterial super-infection is unknown. Methods Using an established model of influenza, Staphylococcus aureus super-infection, we studied IFNλ3-/- and control mice to model a physiologically relevant reduction in IFNλ and to address its role in super-infection. Results Surprisingly, IFNλ3-/- mice did not have significantly lower total IFNλ than co-housed controls, and displayed no change in viral or bacterial clearance. Importantly, both control and IFNλ3-/- mice displayed a positive correlation between viral burden and total IFNλ in the bronchoalveolar lavage during influenza/bacterial super-infection, suggesting that higher influenza viral burden drives a similar total IFNλ response regardless of IFNλ3 gene integrity. Interestingly, total IFNλ levels positively correlated with bacterial burden, while viral burden and bronchoalveolar lavage cellularity did not. Conclusions These data suggest IFNλ2 can compensate for IFNλ3 to mount an effective antiviral and defense, revealing a functional redundancy in these highly similar IFNλ subtypes. Further, the IFNλ response to influenza, as opposed to changes in cellular inflammation or viral load, significantly correlates with susceptibility to bacterial super-infection. Moreover, the IFNλ response is regulated and involves redundant subtypes, suggesting it is of high importance to pulmonary pathogen defense.
Patterns in the justification of invasion and responses to attack

The previous nine chapters reported on survey findings pertaining to invasion and bombing from Africa, East Asia, the Gulf States, Latin America, the Middle East, Russia and the Balkan Peninsula, South and Southeast Asia, the UK/Anglo Region, and Western Europe. The specific items on the Personal and Institutional Rights to Governmental Aggression and Peace Survey (PAIRTAPS) that were analyzed were as follows: (1) “Sometimes one country has the right to invade another country”; (2) “Your country is indiscriminately bombing a major city in another country, and women and children, the elderly and civilian men are running around bloody and screaming. What would you feel? What would you want to do?”; and (3) “Another country is indiscriminately bombing a major city in your country, and women and children, the elderly, and civilian men are running around bloody and screaming. What would you feel? What would you want to do?” In regard to the first item, participants were asked to indicate their level of agreement on a 7-point rating scale and then to indicate in their own words their rationale for the rating they provided. The second item called for qualitative responses to the two open-ended questions. This chapter summarizes patterns in the responses across the regions in regard to these items.
Remediation of Acid Mine Drainage-Impacted Water

The formation of acid mine drainage (AMD), a highly acidic and metal-rich solution, is the biggest environmental concern associated with coal and mineral mining. Once produced, AMD can severely impact the surrounding ecosystem due to its acidity, metal toxicity, sedimentation and other deleterious properties. Hence, implementations of effective post-mining management practices are necessary to control AMD pollution. Due to the existence of a number of federal and state regulations, it is necessary for private and government agencies to come up with various AMD treatment and/or control technologies. This review describes some of the widely used AMD remediation technologies in terms of their general working principles, advantages and shortcomings. AMD treatment technologies can be divided into two major categories, namely prevention and remediation. Prevention techniques mainly focus on inhibiting AMD formation reactions by controlling the source. Remediation techniques focus on the treatment of already produced AMD before their discharge into water bodies. Remediation technologies can be further divided into two broad categories: active and passive. Due to high cost and intensive labor requirements for maintenance of active treatment technologies, passive treatments are widely used all over the world. Besides the conventional passive treatment technologies such as constructed wetlands, anaerobic sulfate-reducing bioreactors, anoxic limestone drains, open limestone channels, limestone leach beds and slag leach beds, this paper also describes emerging passive treatment technologies such as phytoremediation. More intensive research is needed to develop an efficient and cost-effective AMD treatment technology, which can sustain persistent and long-term AMD load.
Politics & Prejudice Toward Hispanics: Assessing the Validity of Symbolic Measures

While endorsement of “old fashioned” or biologically based racism toward blacks has declined, many Americans still harbor more insidious attitudes based on a conflict of values dubbed “symbolic racism”. Often acquired through early childhood socialization, symbolic racism has been shown to influence whites’ attitudes on a number of race-based policies, such as affirmative action, and on candidate evaluations. Despite being developed to target anti-black attitudes, several recent studies have applied measures of symbolic racism to whites’ attitudes toward Hispanics as the target minority group (Brader & Valentino, 2007; Purkiss et al. 2006; Sears & Savalei, 2006). The validity of such an approach, however, rests on the assumption that white Americans’ prejudice toward Hispanics operates in a similar fashion as white Americans’ prejudice toward blacks. This study explores white prejudice toward Hispanics and its political implications. More specifically, it uses a survey-based approach to examine the reliability and validity of applying symbolic racism to the Hispanic population. After reviewing the literature on Hispanic prejudice, evidence is presented that using the symbolic racism scale toward Hispanics is a statistically valid approach, as its internal consistency, convergent, divergent, and predictive validity are all demonstrated. Moreover, the effect of symbolic racism toward Hispanics is evident across multiple issue domains and across years.
Criminal Procedure-Search Warrant Affidavits- Defendant May Have Inaccurate Statements Excised from Affadavit Unless Affiant Proves Reasonable Belief in Truth of Such Information-Probable Cause Tested from Remaining Truthful Information

This Recent Decision is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Reviews at Digital Commons @ Loyola Marymount University and Loyola Law School. It has been accepted for inclusion in Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Loyola Marymount University and Loyola Law School. For more information, please contact digitalcommons@lmu.edu. Recommended Citation
A Security Attack and Defense in the Grid Environment

Programs in execution have long been considered to be immutable objects. Object code and libraries are emitted by the compiler, linked and then executed; any changes to the program require revisiting the compile or link steps. In contrast, we consider a running program to be an object that can be examined, instrumented, and re-arranged on the fly. The DynInst API provides a portable library for tool builders to construct tools that operate on a running program. Where previous tools might have required a special compiler, linker, or run-time library, tools based on DynInst can operate directly on unmodified binary programs during execution. I will discuss how this technology can be used to subvert system security and present an interesting scenario for security vulnerability in Grid computing. The example comes from an attack that we made on the Condor distributed scheduling system.For this attack, we created "lurker" processes that can be left latent on a host in the Condor pool. These lurker processes lie in wait for subsequent Condor jobs to arrive on the infected host. The lurker then uses Dyninst to attach to the newly-arrived victim job and take control. Once in control, the lurker can cause the victim job to make requests back to its home host, causing it execute almost any system call it would like.Using techniques similar to those in intrusion detection, I show how to automatically construct a nondeterministic finite automata from the binary code of the Condor job, and use this NFA while the job is executing to check that it is not acting out of character.
Spectral asymptotics, instability and Riesz basis property of root vectors for Rayleigh beam model with non-dissipative boundary conditions

In this paper we investigate the Rayleigh beam model with non-dissipative boundary conditions recently considered in the literature. The beam is clamped at the left end and subject to a feedback control type boundary conditions at the right. The components of the 2-dim input vector are shear and moment at the right end and the components of the observation vector are time derivatives of displacement and slope at the right end. The input is related to the observation through a co-diagonal matrix depending on two non-negative control parameters. The paper contains two main results. First we derive the leading term, the second order term, and the remainder in the asymptotic representation of the eigenmodes of the system. It follows from spectral asymptotics that the system has an infinite alternating sequence of stable and unstable eigenmodes. This type of instability has been recently obtained in the literature by a different method. The instability result might be of interest for energy harvesting models where destabilization of a system is desirable. The second result is the fact that the generalized eigenvectors of the dynamics generator of the system form a Riesz basis in the state space equipped with the energy metric. This result implies, in particular, that the system generates a C0-semigroup in the state space.
The impact of gay-friendly recruitment statements and due process employment on a firm’s attractiveness as an employer

Purpose – Using early recruitment and workplace diversity literature, the purpose of this paper is to investigate how employee recruitment statements regarding employment-at-will moderate the effect that gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT)-supportive recruitment statements have on job seekers’ job pursuit intentions (JPI) and attraction toward a firm. Design/methodology/approach – A between-subjects, cross-sectional experimental design was used where subjects answered self-report questionnaires after viewing mock recruitment web ads. The ads included statements where the condition for job security or at-will employment and GLBT-supportive or equal opportunity employment climates were manipulated. Findings – The paper provides empirical insights about how gay-friendly work climate perceptions impact the organizational attractiveness and JPI of job seekers. Furthermore, the results suggest that the combination of recruitment strategies affect subjects differently based on their individual level o...
Anticipating a next-generation census of stem-cell small RNA.

A new generation of technology promises a future of fast and cheap DNA and RNA sequencing by simultaneously analyzing millions of nucleic acid molecules. Graced with names such as “ultra high-throughput” or “next-generation” sequencing, this technological revolution actually consists of several competing technologies that allow large surveys of nucleic-acid samples — both genomic DNA and RNA transcripts. Fast sequencing of the RNA population in a cell has quickly gained traction as an efficient method for measuring gene expression levels within experimental organisms as well as human tissues [1]. With some improvements, next-generation sequencing should allow a high-resolution view of the RNA within single, differentiating stem cells. Microarrays, which have been the standard for transcriptome analysis for several years, provide neither the flexibility nor the sequence-level data of the new technology [1]. Because microarray hybridization experiments can only query known reference sequence (such as published genomic sections), they ignore unidentified sequences from unassembled areas of the genome, or hybrid sequences that result from splicing. In contrast, a sequence-based RNA census (RNA-Seq) is, ideally, “hypothesis-free” and can identify and measure novel transcripts without such prejudice. Like protein-coding mRNA, samples of small RNA, including microRNAs (miRNA), may be sequenced by the new technology after being purified and reverse-transcribed into complementary DNA (cDNA). Such small RNAs are interesting because they have important biological functions; indeed, mice lacking critical components of the miRNA pathway, such as Dicer or DGCR8, are not viable beyond the embryonic stage [2]. In vitro studies demonstrate that stem cells lacking Dicer also lack key proteins responsible for regulating differentiation [3,4]. A review of the piRNA pathway, an important regulator of stem cell differentiation that involves 26 to 32 nucleotide-long RNA molecules, appears in this issue [5]. However, while the importance of the miRNA and piRNA pathways in stem cells is already established, a complete understanding of their regulatory function will require an exhaustive census of the diversity of small RNAs at work in these cells. Microarrays have provided measurements of previously identified small RNAs, including miRNA [6]. Now, next-generation sequencing promises to discover and measure the entire complement of small RNAs in stem cells, including those that have not been identified.
Can Metal Matrix-Hydrophobic Nanoparticle Composites Enhance Water Condensation by Promoting the Dropwise Mode?

Incorporation of condensers treated with hydrophobic modifiers that promote the efficient dropwise condensation mode can significantly enhance the performance of power generation and desalination plants. However, this approach is not used in industry because of low thermal conductivity and limited durability of the thin hydrophobic coatings. Here, it is argued that metal matrix hydrophobic nanoparticle composites can be a robust and high thermal conductivity alternative to hydrophobic polymeric and ceramic thin films. By characterizing condensation on a wide range of mimicked composite surfaces, it is demonstrated that to promote dropwise condensation the filler nanoparticles must have size and spacing significantly smaller than the few micrometer average center-to-center separation distance between closest neighboring droplets prior to onset of the coalescence dominated growth stage. Furthermore, the nanoparticle density does not have to be high enough to make the surface hydrophobic, but only sufficiently high to reduce the contact angle hysteresis, and with that pinning of droplets during coalescence and gravity assisted shedding. Using experimental results in conjunction with condensation models, it is estimated that a substantial heat transfer enhancement can be achieved via promotion of sustained dropwise mode even by using copper and aluminum matrix composites fully loaded with polytetrafluoroethylene nanoparticles if the film thickness is below ≈0.5 mm.
Cytofluorometric Determination of Nuclear DNA in Living and Preserved Algae

Three DNA-localizing fluorochromes used in conjunction with epi (incident) UV illumination were examined for sensitivity and selectivity for the cytofluorometric determination of nuclear DNA in ten species of six algal genera: Mougeotia, Oedogonium, Sirogonium, Spirogyra and Zygnema among the green algae, and the marine red alga Polysiphonia boldii. In comparison with absorption photometry for the determination of nuclear DNA, the cytofluorometric procedure proved to be simpler and considerably more sensitive. Following staining with 4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI), nuclei fluoresce blue-white, the fluorescence intensity of the DNA-DAPI complex being considerably greater than that of the unbound dye molecule. Algal strains stained with 2,5-bis[4'-aminopheny](1')]-1,3,4-oxadiazole (BAO) also showed brilliant blue-white nuclear fluorescence. Although the BAO schedule requires the use of freshly prepared dye and sulfite water, and careful control of hydrolysis, nuclear fluorescence of the stained specim...
The impact of exchange rate volatility on U.S. poultry exports

Existing empirical evidence on the effect of exchange rate uncertainty on trade is generally conflicting and inconclusive. While some studies found a positive relationship between exchange rate volatility and trade, others argue for the opposite. Furthermore, the vast majority of past studies only focused on aggregate trade flow data. The lack of extensive literature on studies based on disaggregated and commodity-level data may partially explain the ambiguity in past empirical evidence. This paper re-examines the relationship between exchange rate volatility and U.S. poultry exports using a panel data for 49 importing nations over two subperiods: 1976–1985 and 1986–2000. The analysis uses a fixed-effects model specification and three alternative measures of exchange rate volatility. The empirical results suggest that the choice of volatility measure matters as there is a positive relationship between exchange rate uncertainty and poultry exports. These findings are consistent with those from several previous studies. [JEL classification: F310, Q170]. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Agribusiness 22: 233–245, 2006.
Increasing wave heights and extreme value projections: The wave climate of the U.S. Pacific Northwest

article i nfo Deep-water wave buoy data offshore from the U.S. Pacific Northwest (Oregon and Washington) document that the annual averages of deep-water significant wave heights (SWHs) have increased at a rate of approximately 0.015 m/yr since the mid-1970s, while averages of the five highest SWHs per year have increased at the appreciably greater rate of 0.071 m/yr. Histograms of the hourly-measured SWHs more fully document this shift toward higher values over the decades, demonstrating that both the relatively low waves of the summer and the highest SWHs generated by winter storms have increased. Wave heights associated with higher percentiles in the SWH cumulative distribution function are shown to be increasing at progressively faster rates than those associated with lower percentiles. This property is demonstrated to be a direct result of the probability distributions for annual wave climates having lognormal- or Weibull-like forms in that a moderate increase in the mean SWH produces significantly greater increases in the tail of the distribution. Both the linear regressions of increasing annual averages and the evolving probability distribution of the SWH climate, demonstrating the non-stationarity of the Pacific Northwest wave climate, translate into substantial increases in extreme value projections, important in coastal engineering design and in quantifying coastal hazards. Buoy data have been analyzed to assess this response in the wave climate by employing various time-dependent extreme value models that directly compute the progressive increases in the 25- to 100-year projections. The results depend somewhat on the assumptions made in the statistical procedures, on the numbers of storm-generated SWHs included, and on the threshold value for inclusion in the analyses, but the results are consistent with the linear regressions of annual averages and the observed shifts in the histograms.
Image charge potential at the interface of two semi-infinite media: Thomas-Fermi solution

Abstract The image charge potential is found for a parallel plate capacitor geometry in the infinite barrier Thomas—Fermi approximation to Poisson's equation. The material composition of the semi-infinite media are taken to be plasma-like although the jellium-dielectric interface is discussed in detail. Approximations such as single imaging (Newns) or that due to Gomer and Swanson are found to be reasonable in the center of large gaps but inaccurate for separations on the order of molecular dimensions. The dipole image potential is derived from the Green function solution for this geometry.
Labels or attributes?: rethinking the neighbors for collective classification in sparsely-labeled networks

Many classification tasks involve linked nodes, such as people connected by friendship links. For such networks, accuracy might be increased by including, for each node, the (a) labels or (b) attributes of neighboring nodes as model features. Recent work has focused on option (a), because early work showed it was more accurate and because option (b) fit poorly with discriminative classifiers. We show, however, that when the network is sparsely labeled, "relational classification" based on neighbor attributes often has higher accuracy than "collective classification" based on neighbor labels. Moreover, we introduce an efficient method that enables discriminative classifiers to be used with neighbor attributes, yielding further accuracy gains. We show that these effects are consistent across a range of datasets, learning choices, and inference algorithms, and that using both neighbor attributes and labels often produces the best accuracy.
Resolution limit of overlapping ultrasound chirplet echoes via hypothesis testing

The axial resolution capability of an ultrasonic pulse-echo imaging system is known to depend on the bandwidth of the propagating pulse. However, the exact resolution limit, the minimum spacing between two reflectors that a given ultrasound imaging system can resolve, has been lacking. In particular, for a known transducer bandwidth, noise level, excitation frequency, and the dispersion rate, it is desirable to know the exact axial resolution limit. Such a limit is useful for assessing the performance of resolution improvement algorithms such as deconvolution methods. This paper develops a method to estimate the resolution limit in terms of propagating pulse characteristics, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and resolution success rate.
Invited Review: A review of deterministic effects in cyclic variability of internal combustion engines

We review developments in the understanding of cycle–to–cycle variability in internal combustion engines, with a focus on spark-ignited and premixed combustion conditions. Much of the research on c...
Focused ion beam-shaped microtools for ultra-precision machining of cylindrical components

Abstract Focused ion beam (FIB) sputtering is used to shape a variety of cutting tools with dimensions in the 15–100 μm range and cutting edge radii of curvature of 40 nm. The shape of each microtool is controlled to a pre-specified geometry that includes rake and relief features. We demonstrate tools having rectangular, triangular, and other complex-shaped face designs. A double-triangle tip on one tool is unique and demonstrates the versatility of the fabrication process. The FIB technique allows observation of the tool during fabrication, and, thus, reproducible features are generated with sub-micron precision. Tools are made from tungsten carbide, high-speed tool steel, and single crystal diamond. Application of FIB-shaped tools in ultra-precision microgrooving tests shows that the cross-section of a machined groove is an excellent replication of the microtool face. Microgrooves on 40–150 μm pitch are cut into 3 mm diameter polymer rods, for groove arc lengths greater than 12 cm. The surface finish of machined features is also reported; groove roughness (Ra) is typically less than 0.2 μm. Ultra-precision machining of cylindrical substrates is extended to make bound metal microcoils having feature sizes of 20–40 μm.
Studies on the determination of inorganic anions by capillary electrophoresis

Abstract In order to separate anions effectively it is usually necessary to eliminate or reverse the direction of electroosmotic flow (EOF) resulting from attraction of cations to the negatively charged surface of a silica capillary. Previous workers have accomplished this by adding a quaternary ammonium salt (Q+) as an EOF “modifier”. Under typical experimental conditions, a concentration of Q+ > 0. 25 mM is required to reverse the EOF direction. Addition of a low percentage of 1-butanol to the aqueous electrolyte was found to reduce the EOF. A combination of butanol and a very low concentration of Q+ (typically 0.03 mM) was found to be particularly effective in controlling EOF and in giving effective separations of complex mixtures of anions. The probable mechanism of the butanol-Q+ effect is discussed.
Extended Kalman filter for multiwavelength differential absorption lidar

Our earlier study described an approach for estimating the path-integrated concentration, CL, of a set of vapor materials using time series data from topographic backscatter lidar with frequency-agile lasers. That methodology assumed the availability of background data samples collected before the release of the vapors of interest to estimate statistical parameters such as the mean topographic backscatter return and the transmitter energy mean and variance as a function of wavelength. The background data were then used in an extended Kalman filter approach for estimating the CL components as a function of time. That approach worked well for data that showed negligible drift in the mean parameters over the data collection time. In practice, however, the transmitter energy and background return can drift, producing substantial bias in the estimates. In this paper we generalize the approach to a more complete state model that includes the mean transmitter energy and background return in addition to the CL vapor set. This generalization allows the algorithm to track slow drift in those parameters and provides generally improved estimates. Results of the new algorithm are compared with those of a two-wavelength classical DIAL estimator on synthetic and field test data.© (2001) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Impact of anastomotic techniques on airway complications after lung transplant.

Background Airway complications are a source of morbidity and expense after lung transplant. Posttransplant stenosis can occur when the donor bronchus is rendered ischemic and is dependent upon collateral flow from the pulmonary capillary system. By shortening the donor bronchus, the tissue at risk for ischemia is reduced. In an effort to reduce airway complications, one surgeon at our institution began dividing the donor bronchus at the lobar carina. Methods This is a retrospective analysis of all transplanted patients over the 2-year period before and after the institution of the technique change. To adjust for covariates, we performed a propensity score analysis. Outcome endpoints were postoperative airway complications, specifically, the need for therapeutic bronchoscopy, dilation, stenting, or retransplant. Results After instituting the practice of dividing the bronchus at the lobar carina, the incidence of airway complication for the principle surgeon decreased from 13.2% (7 of 53) to 2.1% (1 of 48), resulting in an improved freedom from airway complication for that surgeon. Compared with all transplants performed during this period, the modified anastomosis resulted in fewer airway complications: 2.1% (1 of 48) versus 8.2% (19 of 231). The propensity analysis matched the 48 patients who received the modified anastomosis with 48 patients who received the standard two ring length anastomosis by surgical colleagues. The modified anastomosis group had fewer required interventions for airway complications and had significantly better freedom from airway complication when followed over time. Conclusions Decreasing the amount of potentially ischemic tissue implanted from the donor bronchus can reduce posttransplant airway complications.
COUPLED SEAKEEPING WITH LIQUID SLOSHING IN SHIP TANKS

A three-dimensional forward-speed seakeeping theory is proposed by the inclusion of a tank sloshing flow model. The methodology is based on a coupling model of sloshing and seakeeping in the frequency domain. The fluid forces and moments due to the liquid motion inside tanks are incorporated into the equations of the vessel motion for the coupled seakeeping computations. The classical expression for restoring forces is accordingly modified for the coupled analysis. The global motion responses of a modern LNG carrier at forward speed in beam seas are then calculated to investigate the coupling effects between sloshing and seakeeping. No prominent coupling effect was observed in heave and pitch motions while a significant effect was observed in sway and roll motions. The numerical results show that the proposed theoretical model works well in comparison with experimental results.Copyright © 2008 by ASME
Probabilistic optimum design of framed structures

Abstract A sequential quadratic programming algorithm is developed for the optimum reliability-based design of framed structures, using the Stochastic Finite Element Method (SFEM). The problem is formulated to include both element-level and system-level reliability requirements, by using the former in the objective function and the latter to define the feasible region for optimum design. SFEM is used to estimate the reliability of the structure for various element-level performance criteria, while the failure mode approach is used to estimate system reliability. The use of SFEM also provides information about the gradient of the objective function and the constraints with respect to the design variables; this proves advantageous in formulating the optimization algorithm. A modular approach in the formulation allows the addition or deletion of limit states as desired, and the assignment of varying requirements for different criteria. These aspects and advantages of the proposed algorithm are illustrated with the help of numerical examples.