cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Origins of Cachexia in Acute and Chronic Inflammatory Diseases

The term cachexia originates from the Greek root kakos hexis, which translates into "bad condition," recognized for centuries as a progressive deterioration of body habitus. Cachexia is commonly associated with a number of disease states, including acute inflammatory processes associated with critical illness and chronic inflammatory diseases, such as cancer, congestive heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and human immunodeficiency virus infection. Cachexia is responsible for the deaths of 10%-22% of all patients with cancer and approximately 15% of the trauma deaths that occur from sepsis-induced organ dysfunction and malnutrition days to weeks after the initial traumatic event. The abnormalities associated with cachexia include anorexia, weight loss, a preferential loss of somatic muscle and fat mass, altered hepatic glucose and lipid metabolism, and anemia. Anorexia alone cannot fully explain the development of cachexia; metabolic alterations in carbohydrate, lipid, and protein metabolism contribute to the severe tissue losses. Despite significant advances in our understanding of specific disease processes, the mechanisms leading to cachexia remain unclear and multifactorial. Although complex, increasing evidence from both animal models and clinical studies suggests that an inflammatory response, mediated in part by a dysregulated production of proinflammatory cytokines, plays a role in the genesis of cachexia, associated with both critical illness and chronic inflammatory diseases. These cytokines are further thought to induce an acute phase protein response (APR) and produce the alterations in lipid and carbohydrate metabolism identified as crucial markers of acute inflammation in states of malignancy and critical illness. Although much is still unknown about the etiology of cachexia, there is growing appreciation that cachexia represents the endproduct of an inappropriate interplay between multiple cytokines, neuropeptides, classic stress hormones, and intermediary substrate metabolism.
Relationship Between Calorimetric and Structural Characteristics of Lithium‐Ion Cells I. Thermal Analysis and Phase Diagram

A phase diagram for was determined by potentiometric and calorimetric measurements as a function of lithium concentration (x) in the host electrode. These measurements show clear evidence for a reversible phase transition between hexagonal and monoclinic structures near x = 0.5 in during electrochemical‐calorimetric cycling at various cell temperatures. The phase transition and the range over which it occurs were found to be temperature dependent. It was well correlated with observations that, during discharge of lithium‐ion cells having as positive electrode material, the overall exothermic heat effect contains a transient contribution between exothermic and endothermic heat generation near x = 0.5. © 2000 The Electrochemical Society. All rights reserved.
A unique case of face diastereoselectivity in the Michael addition reactions between Ni(II)-complexes of glycine and chiral 3-(E-enoyl)-1,3-oxazolidin-2-ones

Abstract The origin of virtually complete face diastereoselectivity in the organic base-catalyzed, room temperature Michael addition reactions between Ni(II)-complexes of Schiff bases of glycine and chiral 3-( E -enoyl)-4-substituted-1,3-oxazolidin-2-ones was shown to stem from the unusual mode of steric interactions in determining the corresponding transition state.
SEQOPTICS: a protein sequence clustering system

Background Protein sequence clustering has been widely used as a part of the analysis of protein structure and function. In most cases single linkage or graph-based clustering algorithms have been applied. OPTICS (Ordering Points To Identify the Clustering Structure) is an attractive approach due to its emphasis on visualization of results and support for interactive work, e.g., in choosing parameters. However, OPTICS has not been used, as far as we know, for protein sequence clustering.
Why bother with a computerized scheduling system

Patient scheduling is often included as a module available in modern information management systems. The functionality of a scheduling module can vary greatly. A complete scheduling system combines rules related to each examination room with rules concerning the procedure itself. Duplicate exams can be avoided while picking the most optimal time slot available. The benefits of such a scheduling system include reduction in scheduling delays, a reduction in patient waiting time, improved patient through-put, improved clinical history information, and improved billing accuracy and completeness.
Photosynthetic oxygen production and the size of the photosynthetic unit in a cell-free preparation from Cyanidium caldarium

Abstract A cell-free preparation has been isolated from a mutant of Cyanidium caldarium, grown under conditions such that there is 15 times less chlorophyll per photosynthetic unit than in normal green algae. The preparation is sensitive to 3-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-1,1-dimethylurea and shows the well-characterized oscillation of O2 yield, from saturating flashes, following a period of dark adaptation. Greening experiments with dark-grown, wild-type Cyanidium show that the synthesis of photosynthetic units precedes that of bulk chlorophyll and that the O2-producing system is assembled before the total system coupled to CO2. No large-scale cooperation of chlorophyll molecules is required for O2 production.
Current techniques for chest wall reconstruction: expanded possibilities for treatment

Myocutaneous flaps and prosthetic materials have greatly facilitated reconstruction after massive chest wall resection. This series includes 112 such procedures. Latissimus dorsi, rectus abdominis, omental, pectoralis major, and contralateral breast flaps were used in 80 patients. Early in the series, 3 flaps were lost because of technical problems. Minor areas of incomplete healing that resolved completely with local wound care occurred in 16 of 80 flaps. Skeletal reconstruction was performed in 82 patients without complication. Marlex mesh was used for flat surfaces, and Marlex mesh with methyl methacrylate was used for the sternum and the curved surface of the lateral chest wall. These results have allowed an expansion of the indications for chest wall resection to include the curative treatment of primary chest wall tumors and palliative treatment for breast cancer patients with osteoradionecrosis, local recurrence (in select patients), chest wall infection, and tumors metastatic to the chest wall.
Glycemic control and transfer of health care among adolescents with insulin dependent diabetes mellitus

Purpose: To describe glycemic control among older adolescents with insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) as they move from pediatric to adult-focused health care. Methods: Prospective cohort study conducted in a university medical center. Participants included 82 consecutive adolescents (50 males and 32 females) with IDDM transferred from a pediatric to an adolescent/young adult diabetes clinic. Main outcome measures were the levels of total stable glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA 1 ) obtained at each visit for up to one year before and after the transfer. Results: The average age of transfer to the young adult clinic was 17.3 ± 0.8 years. Mean age at onset of IDDM was 9.6 ± 4.2 years (1.2 to 17.3) with duration of 7.7 ± 3.9 years (0.7 to 16.1). Glycemic control remained unchanged following transfer (9.9% ± 1.8 vs 10.2% ± 1.9; t = 1.6; p = 0.125). Following transfer, both males and females maintained similar levels of glycemic control (9.8% ± 1.7 and 10.7% ± 1.8 respectively); although the difference between males and females was significant ( t = −2.0; p = 0.048) following transfer, there was no difference in the degree of change by gender ( t = −0.2; p = 0.8). In both pediatric and young adult clinics, there was no relationship between duration of IDDM ( I . Conclusions: Transfer to an adult-focused diabetes program appears to have no negative impact on glycemic control.
A note on indirect adaptive control with stabilizable plant estimates

Recent on-line estimation schemes presented in [1] and [2] suitable for indirect adaptive control applications, are extended to general estimation procedures, and can be fully justified on the basis of simple arguments.
Cutaneous toxicity and absorption of paraquat in porcine skin.

Abstract Paraquat, a commonly used herbicide, has been shown to be toxic in exposed field workers. The objectives of this study were to (a) assess the cutaneous toxicity of paraquat in vivo in pig skin and in vitro in the isolated perfused porcine skin flap (IPPSF) and (b) quantitate its absorption in the IPPSF. The amounts of 3, 24, and 200 mg of paraquat were topically applied (5 cm 2 surface area) on the ventral abdomen of pigs and biopsied after 6–8 hr for light microscopy (LM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). IPPSFs were topically dosed with the same concentrations and perfused for 8 hr ( n = 4/treatment). The dosed area of the skin was sampled for LM, TEM, and enzyme histochemistry. IPPSFs were also treated topically with [ 14 C]paraquat dichloride at the aforementioned concentrations ( n = 4/dose) and hourly perfusate samples were collected for radiolabel determination and assessment of biochemical and physiological parameters. The epidermal changes were similar both in vivo and in vitro . The changes included epidermal intercellular edema which increased with dose and epidermal-dermal separation at the 200-mg dose. Acid phosphatase and nonspecific esterase activities were increased in the upper layers of the epidermis, while alkaline phosphatase showed a greater activity in the stratum basale layer. Glucose utilization of all treated IPPSFs was lower than that of the controls and a variation in the vascular resistance profiles was seen in all the treated flaps. Radiotracer studies indicated that a majority of the compound remained on top of the application site and minimal absorption or penetration into skin was observed. Thus, at high concentrations and prolonged exposure, paraquat may have deleterious effects on epidermal morphology in the absence of significant percutaneous absorption.
Computerized monitoring of gas production to measure forage digestion in vitro

The techniques reported in this paper were developed to facilitate the study of the kinetics of forage digestion in vitro by measuring gas production. Fiber disappearance as a measure of the reaction rate has been replaced by the use of computerized pressure sensors to monitor the gaseous products (CO2, CH4) of microbial metabolism. The recording system described requires a computer, pressure sensors, an interface card, and appropriate software to monitor gas production continuously. Several variables, including sample size, inoculum size, vessel size, and type of pressure sensor, have been investigated to determine ranges within which gas production can be measured accurately, and the reproducibility of the results has been established. Because this technique uses small (100-mg) samples, a modified NDF method has been introduced that allows determination of extent of digestion at the end of an incubation in which gas production has been monitored. A strong linear relationship existed between NDF disappearance and gas production.
Variations in hepatic inactivation of corticosterone with changes in food intake: an explanation of impaired corticosteroid metabolism following noxious stimuli.

In studies involving nine different noxious stimuli, all stimuli which diminished food intakes of male or female rats also diminished the capacity of the liver to inactivate adrenal cortical hormones by ring A reduction. All noxious stimuli which failed to affect food consumption also failed to affect corticosterone metabolism. In every case, the loss of hepatic capacity for inactivation of corticosterone following exposure to noxious stimuli could be duplicated exactly in control animals pair-fed to those exposed to the noxious stimuli. Hepatic Δ4-steroid hydrogenase activitjr was found to be a nearly linear function of food intake in the 18 hours immediately preceding the assay. Variations in water intake, and in ACTH or corticosterone secretion rate or concentration were not involved in the loss of hepatic Δ4-steroid hydrogenase activity following exposure to noxious stimuli. Three in vivo experiments demonstrated that variations in the rate of ring A reduction of adrenal cortical hormones bj' liver in...
Micromechanisms of kinking in rigid-rod polymer fibres

The tensile strengths of fibres of the rigid-rod polymers poly(paraphenylene benzobisthiazole) (PBZT) and poly(paraphenylene benzobisoxazole) (PBZO) are excellent, and therefore are of particular interest for high-performance structural applications. However, these fibres are a factor of ten weaker in compression, with failure occurring by strain localization in welldefined kink bands. Here, we study the morphology of PBZT and PBZO kink bands in detail, in order to help elucidate the molecular mechanisms involved in this deformation process. We found that the typical dimensions of a kink in the direction of the fibre axis (∼ 30 nm) were smaller than the length of an average PBZT or PBZO molecule (100 nm). Also, the boundary between the kinked and unkinked regions was well-defined. Low-dose, high-resolution electron microscopy (HREM) of the kink interior revealed local, high-angle changes in chain orientation, indicative of covalent bond bending or breaking. The kink boundaries exhibit “sharp” or “smooth” features which seem to be related to the local tensile or compressive nature of the stress field. A model for kink nucleation and propagation in terms of partial dislocations is presented and discussed. A stress analysis using this model has been developed, and comparison with experimental data suggests that kinks tend to propagate towards regions of higher compressive stress. This observation is interpreted in terms of dislocation pinning (in areas of hydrostatic tension) and the nucleation of dislocation pairs (in areas of hydrostatic compression) due to the asymmetric nature of the intermolecular energy potential. Finally, practical methods for improving compressive strength based on these mechanistic insights are proposed.
Clinical diagnoses of children with extremely short stature and their response to growth hormone

This study was undertaken to determine the prevalence of clinical diagnoses in a group of children with extremely short stature (standard deviation score for height,
Transition in Cartographic Education in the United States: Challenges and Opportunities in Curriculum Design

A framework for the transition that cartographic education has undergone over the past decade points to key challenges and new opportunities for instructors and students in the future. While implementing the new technologies, instructors continue to re-learn and re-think how to teach cartography, while students similarly adapt to and learn the rapidly changing forms of technologies. In addition to acquiring cartographic concepts and methods, students face the task of learning new computer systems and programs. However, automation also provides challenges and rich opportunities in the teaching environment. Colour presentation and faster map production are among the many advantages these innovations bestow. Many challenges lie ahead. Curricula must be designed to reveal the basics of cartography while students are using already-programmed software. Technology will need to be upgraded in spite of budgetary constraints. At the same time, attention also must be given to the needs of adult students returning to...
Conversions of Feature-Based Design Representations Using Graph Grammar Parsing

In order to trade off required functionality with manufacturing, cost, and other life-cycle considerations, it is necessary to evaluate designs in these secondary view-points. Representations of mechanical components designed with design features must be converted into representations containing relevant secondary viewpoint features. When describing a design verbally, designers often use languages of design features. In other viewpoints, different languages of viewpoint-specific features are used. Thus, translation capability between viewpoint languages is needed to convert from one representation to another. The approach taken here is to use formal graph grammars to define the feature-based design of thin-walled components and the secondary feature languages. Features are defined by graphs that explicitly represent the feature, its geometric entities, and their connectivity. Components are built up by combining feature graphs based on designer specified feature connectivity. To convert from the design to a secondary viewpoint, a three-step process is used where the last step is parsing by a grammar from the secondary viewpoint. To illustrate the conversion process, a converter for tool cost evaluation in injection molding and die casting is developed and applied to an example component.
Delay and throughput for three transmission schemes in packet radio networks

The results of a simulation of a fully connect packet communication network are presented. The network employs the slotted ALOHA channel access protocol, and Reed-Solomon coding is used to correct errors and erasures in the received packets. The network has a fixed number of channels available for packet transmissions. In two of the transmission schemes considered, a given packet transmission occurs on a single channel only. One of these employs fixed assignment of terminals to the channels, and the other employs random assignment. A third method permits each transmitter to hop randomly over the set of channels during the transmission of a packet. The terminal transmits on one channel at a time, and it transmits a fixed number of symbols during each dwell interval. Delay and throughput are evaluated for all three transmission methods. The effects of code rate on the performance of the channel-hopping scheme are explored, and the improvement that can be obtained for the channel-hopping scheme by use of incremental-redundancy transmission is examined. >
Fen/Phen and valvular heart disease: the final link has now been established.

To the Editor: The findings reported by Shively et al1 that dexfenfluramine-induced valvulopathy may regress after cessation of …
Computational network analysis of the anatomical and genetic organizations in the mouse brain

Motivation: The mammalian central nervous system (CNS) generates high-level behavior and cognitive functions. Elucidating the anatomical and genetic organizations in the CNS is a key step toward understanding the functional brain circuitry. The CNS contains an enormous number of cell types, each with unique gene expression patterns. Therefore, it is of central importance to capture the spatial expression patterns in the brain. Currently, genome-wide atlas of spatial expression patterns in the mouse brain has been made available, and the data are in the form of aligned 3D data arrays. The sheer volume and complexity of these data pose significant challenges for efficient computational analysis. Results: We employ data reduction and network modeling techniques to explore the anatomical and genetic organizations in the mouse brain. First, to reduce the volume of data, we propose to apply tensor factorization techniques to reduce the data volumes. This tensor formulation treats the stack of 3D volumes as a 4D data array, thereby preserving the mouse brain geometry. We then model the anatomical and genetic organizations as graphical models. To improve the robustness and efficiency of network modeling, we employ stable model selection and efficient sparsity-regularized formulation. Results on network modeling show that our efforts recover known interactions and predicts novel putative correlations. Availability: The complete results are available at the project website: http://compbio.cs.odu.edu/mouse/ Contact: sji@cs.odu.edu Supplementary Information:Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Tumor necrosis factor alpha-induced pulmonary vascular endothelial injury.

Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) mediates components of the acute-phase response, stimulates granulocyte metabolism, and induces endothelial cell surface changes. We studied whether human recombinant TNF-alpha (rTNF-alpha) could increase pulmonary edema formation and pulmonary vascular permeability. Rabbits preinfused with 125I-albumin were administered rTNF-alpha or saline. Animals were sacrificed, and lung wet/dry weight ratios as well as bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and plasma 125I activities were determined. rTNF-alpha increased lung wet/dry weight ratios by 151% (P less than 0.02) and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid/plasma 125I activity ratios by 376% (P less than 0.01) compared with values for saline controls. Electron microscopy of lung sections demonstrated endothelial injury, perivascular edema, and extravasation of an ultrastructural permeability tracer. To demonstrate that rTNF-alpha could directly increase pulmonary vascular endothelial permeability in vitro, we studied albumin transfer across cultured porcine pulmonary artery endothelial cell monolayers. rTNF-alpha induced time-dependent dose-response increments in transendothelial albumin flux in the absence of granulocyte effector cells. These observations suggest that rTNF-alpha can provoke acute pulmonary vascular endothelial injury in vivo as well as in vitro. Images
Transient Phase Formation During the Growth of Epitaxial CoSi2 by Annealing of Co/Ti Bi-Layers on (100) Si

Phase evolution during annealing of Co/Ti bilayers on (100)Si was studied by XRD and analytical electrom microscopy (AEM). XRD performed in situ during annealing revealed a reaction pathway involving the formation of a transient phase when epitaxial CoSi{sub 2} films were grown. AEM was used to identify this phase as a spinel-related phase, isostructural with Co{sub 2}TiO{sub 4}. This phase grows as a result of the presence of the Ti interlayer and a small amount of oxygen from the annealing ambient. Annealing in vacuum or other purified inert gases yielded polycrystalline CoSi{sub 2} films which form via a different reaction pathway that does not involve a spinel phase. This spinel phas may serve both to reduce the native oxide from the underlying Si substrate and to control interdiffusion between Si and Co during the reaction, thereby promoting epitaxial growth.
Effect of Mass Transfer Conditions on Double-Loop EPR Sensitization Testing of Austenitic Stainless Steel

Previous work showed that mass transfer conditions affect the critical current density during potentiodynamic polarization measurements on Type 304 stainless steel in dilute sulfuric acid containing thiocyanate. This work used rotating disk electrodes of sensitized Type 304 stainless steel to test whether the mass transfer conditions would also affect double-loop electrochemical potentiodynamic reactivation sensitization tests. The critical current density during the forward scan was found to increase slightly with increased rotation rate, but there was no effect on the critical current density during the reactivation scan. © The Author(s) 2015. Published by ECS. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives 4.0 License (CC BY-NC-ND, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is not changed in any way and is properly cited. For permission for commercial reuse, please email: oa@electrochem.org. [DOI: 10.1149/2.0101508eel] All rights reserved.
The relation of parent–child interaction qualities to social skills in children with and without autism spectrum disorders:

This study examined associations between parent-child interactions and the development of social skills in 42 children (21 typically developing and 21 with autism spectrum disorders) between the ages of 3 years, 0 months and 6 years, 11 months. We expected that positive parent-child interaction qualities would be related to children's social skills and would mediate the negative relation between children's developmental status (typical development vs autism spectrum disorders) and social skills. Videotapes of parents and children during a 5-min wordless book task were coded for parent positive affect and emotional support as well as parent-child cohesiveness. Emotional support and cohesiveness were significantly related to children's social skills, such that higher emotional support and cohesiveness were associated with higher social skills, R (2) = .29, p = .02, and R (2) = .38, p = .002, respectively. Additionally, cohesiveness mediated the relation between children's developmental status and social skills. These findings suggest that parent emotional support and cohesiveness between parents and children positively influence children's social skills. Parent positive affect was unrelated to social skills. Implications of these findings for social skills interventions are discussed, particularly for young children with autism spectrum disorders.
Loss of Heterozygosity Involves Multiple Tumor Suppressor Genes in Human Esophageal Cancers

Loss of heterozygosity occurring on various chromosomes has been described in the majority of human tumors. The targets of frequent or consistent subchromosomal deletions are believed to be tumor suppressor genes. We examined 72 esophageal tumors (46 squamous cell carcinomas and 26 adenocarcinomas) for loss of heterozygosity at the p53, Rb, APC, MCC, and DCC loci. Inclusion of these tumor suppressor genes in the allelic deletions was directly ascertained by performing polymerase chain reaction at polymorphic sites within the genes. Loss of heterozygosity occurred in 55% of informative cases at p53, in 48% of informative cases at Rb, in 66% at APC, in 63% at MCC, and in 24% at DCC. Ninety-three % of tumors informative at all loci (fully informative) lost heterozygosity of at least one locus. A high percentage of fully informative tumors (71%) also lost heterozygosity at more than one locus. There were no significant differences among histological types in the prevalence of loss of heterozygosity at any locus. There were correlations of losses involving MCC versus DCC, Rb, and p53. These data suggest that (a) allelic deletions including these tumor suppressor genes are important in the formation and/or progression of most esophageal cancers; (b) allelic deletions involving MCC may not occur independently of deletions involving other tumor suppressor genes; and (c) the accumulation of multiple allelic deletions involving specific tumor suppressor genes may be important in most esophageal tumorigenesis or tumor evolution.
Experimental and computational study of methane counterflow diffusion flames perturbed by trace amounts of either jet fuel or a 6-component surrogate under non-sooting conditions

The chemical structure of a methane counterflow diffusion flame and of the same flame doped with 1000 ppm (molar) of either jet fuel or a 6-component jet fuel surrogate was analyzed experimentally, by gas sampling via quartz microprobes and subsequent GC/MS analysis, and computationally using a semi-detailed kinetic mechanism for the surrogate blend. Conditions were chosen to ensure that all three flames were non-sooting, with identical temperature profiles and stoichiometric mixture fraction, through a judicious selection of feed stream composition and strain rate. The experimental dataset provides a glimpse of the pyrolysis and oxidation behavior of jet fuel in a diffusion flame. The jet fuel initial oxidation is consistent with anticipated chemical kinetic behavior, based on thermal decomposition of large alkanes to smaller and smaller fragments and the survival of ring-stabilized aromatics at higher temperatures. The 6-component surrogate captures the same trend correctly, but the agreement is not quantitative with respect to some of the aromatics such as benzene and toluene. Various alkanes, alkenes and aromatics among the jet fuel components are either only qualitatively characterized or could not be identified, because of the presence of many isomers and overlapping spectra in the chromatogram, leaving 80% of the carbon from the jet fuel unaccounted for in the early pyrolysis history of the parent fuel. Computationally, the one-dimensional code adopted a semi-detailed kinetic mechanism for the surrogate blend that is based on an existing hierarchically constructed kinetic model for alkanes and simple aromatics, extended to account for the presence of tetralin and methylcyclohexane as reference fuels. The computational results are in reasonably good agreement with the experimental ones for the surrogate behavior, with the greatest discrepancy in the concentrations of aromatics and ethylene.
Activity of CP 99,219 compared with those of ciprofloxacin, grepafloxacin, metronidazole, cefoxitin, piperacillin, and piperacillin-tazobactam against 489 anaerobes.

Agar dilution was used to compare the in vitro activity of CP 99,219 with those of ciprofloxacin, grepafloxacin, metronidazole, cefoxitin, piperacillin, and piperacillin-tazobactam against 489 anaerobes. CP 99,219 yielded a MIC for 50% of the strains tested (MIC50) of 0.25 micrograms/ml and a MIC90 of 1.0 microgram/ml, with 99.6% of the strains susceptible at a breakpoint of 2.0 micrograms/ml. Ciprofloxacin and grepafloxacin were less active (MIC50, 4.0 micrograms/ml; MIC90, 32.0 micrograms/ml and 2.0 and 16.0 micrograms/ml, respectively). Metronidazole was active against all gram-negative rods (MIC90, 4.0 micrograms/ml), but 31% of the gram-positive anaerobes were resistant at > 8.0 micrograms/ml. Cefoxitin was active against 84% of all strains at 95% of the beta-lactamase-producing gram-negative anaerobic rods (MIC90, 16.0 micrograms/ml).
Parameter evaluation for lightning impulse with oscillation and overshoot using the Eigensystem Realization Algorithm

This paper presents a novel approach for the evaluation of impulse parameters. The approach is based on the eigensystem realization algorithm (ERA) which produces a state space model to fit the impulse waveform. Instead of the conventional static mathematical curve model, the dynamic state space model gives a more exact fit for all types of impulse waveforms. This paper demonstrates the feasibility of decomposing the impulse waveform into various components such as smooth, overshoot, oscillations, and high frequency noise etc. Using the presented method it is possible to accurately extract the individual component, even for the overshoot or low frequency oscillation, in analytic functions without significant distortion of the original waveform. Depending on the identified oscillation frequency or overshoot duration, the unwanted components can be removed for the construction of the mean curve. Once the mean curve is obtained and described by analytic functions, the Newton-Raphson method can be performed to the computation of the impulse parameters with high accuracy. Results obtained with analytic and measured impulses show its applicability
On the chronology of the South Arabian martyrdoms

In a persuasive article (AAE 1: 1990: 110–128), F. de Blois has argued for A.D. 523 as the year of the South Arabian martyrdoms. There are a few errors in this otherwise sober and balanced article, which I have pointed out in this short communication in the hope that they will be eliminated in future discussions of this problem.
Multiple Functional Domains of Enterococcus faecalis Aggregation Substance Asc10 Contribute to Endocarditis Virulence

Aggregation substance proteins encoded by sex pheromone plasmids increase the virulence of Enterococcus faecalis in experimental pathogenesis models, including infectious endocarditis models. These large surface proteins may contain multiple functional domains involved in various interactions with other bacterial cells and with the mammalian host. Aggregation substance Asc10, encoded by plasmid pCF10, is induced during growth in the mammalian bloodstream, and pCF10 carriage gives E. faecalis a significant selective advantage in this environment. We employed a rabbit model to investigate the role of various functional domains of Asc10 in endocarditis. The data suggested that the bacterial load of the infected tissue was the best indicator of virulence. Isogenic strains carrying either no plasmid, wild-type pCF10, a pCF10 derivative with an in-frame deletion of the prgB gene encoding Asc10, or pCF10 derivatives expressing other alleles of prgB were examined in this model. Previously identified aggregation domains contributed to the virulence associated with the wild-type protein, and a strain expressing an Asc10 derivative in which glycine residues in two RGD motifs were changed to alanine residues showed the greatest reduction in virulence. Remarkably, this strain and the strain carrying the pCF10 derivative with the in-frame deletion of prgB were both significantly less virulent than an isogenic plasmid-free strain. The data demonstrate that multiple functional domains are important in Asc10-mediated interactions with the host during the course of experimental endocarditis and that in the absence of a functional prgB gene, pCF10 carriage is actually disadvantageous in vivo.
Amino acids stimulate translation initiation and protein synthesis through an Akt-independent pathway in human skeletal muscle.

Studies in vitro as well as in vivo in rodents have suggested that amino acids (AA) not only serve as substrates for protein synthesis, but also as nutrient signals to enhance mRNA translation and protein synthesis in skeletal muscle. However, the physiological relevance of these findings to normal humans is uncertain. To examine whether AA regulate the protein synthetic apparatus in human skeletal muscle, we infused an AA mixture (10% Travesol) systemically into 10 young healthy male volunteers for 6 h. Forearm muscle protein synthesis and degradation (phenylalanine tracer method) and the phosphorylation of protein kinase B (or Akt), eukaryotic initiation factor 4E-binding protein 1, and ribosomal protein S6 kinase (p70S6K) in vastus lateralis muscle were measured before and after AA infusion. We also examined whether AA affect urinary nitrogen excretion and whole body protein turnover. Postabsorptively all subjects had negative forearm phenylalanine balances. AA infusion significantly improved the net p...
A new adiabatic approach to the photodissociation of polyatomic molecules

An adiabatic theory of polyatomic photodissociation is developed that explicitly treats the interaction between the relative and internal motion and leads to an expression for the nuclear wavefunction of the final dissociative state which differs considerably from the zeroth-order distorted-wave approximation. The vibrational frequencies ..omega../sub i/ of the fragments are found to depend on the interfragment distance. In the evaluation of the matrix element needed to describe the energy distribution of the fragments, it is found necessary to use values of ..omega../sub i/ different from the frequencies of the free fragments. These values of ..omega../sub i/ can be expressed in terms of the force constants of the precursor system. Inverse vibrational distributions are obtained from this theory in accord with recent experimental data.
Esters of bicyclic aminoalcohols V: Duration of corneal anesthesia versus enzymatic hydrolytic rate of benzoates of 1‐, 2‐, and 3‐methyl‐2‐hydroxyquinolizidines

Benzoates of the 1-, 2-, and 3-methyl-2-hydroxyquinolizidines were prepared, and the relative in vitro rates of enzymatic hydrolysis of these esters together with quinolizidin-2-yl benzoate and piperocaine by pseudocholinesterase were determined. The duration of corneal anesthesia on rabbits was measured for these compounds. A comparison of the relative rate of enzymatic hydrolysis with duration of corneal anesthesia within the group of compounds and enzyme system studied was made and indicates no correlation between duration of corneal local anesthesia and rate of hydrolytic cleavage.
Location, Language, Location: Toward a Better Understanding of Leader‐Performance Relations

Lord and Dinh (2014) raise a number of important points that need to be considered in development of leadership research and practice. There are three main issues that we wish to address to support and develop their statements.
Characterization of Ion Transport and -Sorption in a Carbon Based Porous Electrode for Desalination Purposes

New and more efficient water desalination technologies have been a topic of incipient research over the past few decades. Although the focus has been placed on the improvement of membrane-based desalination methods such as reverse osmosis, the development of new high surface area carbon-based-electrode materials have brought substantial interest towards capacitive deionization (CDI), a novel technique that uses an electric field to separate the ionic species from the water. Part of the new interest on CDI is its ability to store and return a fraction of the energy used in the desalination process. This characteristic is not common to other electric-field-based desalination methods such as electrodeionization and electrodialysis reversal where none of the input energy is recoverable. This paper presents work conducted to analyze the energy recovery, thermodynamic efficiency, and ionic adsorption/desorption rates in a CDI cell using different salt concentration solutions and various flow rates. Voltage and electrical current measurements are conducted during the desalination and electrode regeneration processes and used to evaluate the energy recovery ratio. Salinity measurements of the inflow and outflow stream concentrations using conductivity probes, alongside the current measurements, are used to calculate ion adsorption efficiency. Two analytical species transport models are developed to estimate the net ionic adsorption rates in a steady-state and nonsaturated porous electrode scenario. Finally, the convective and electrokinetic transport times are compared and their effect on desalination performance is presented. Steady test results for outlet to inlet concentration ratio show a strong dependence on flow rate and concentration independence for dilute solutions. In addition, transient test results indicate that the net electrical energy requirement is dependent on the number of carbon electrode regeneration cycles, which is thought to be due to imperfect regeneration. The energy requirements and adsorption/desorption rate analyses conducted for this waterdesalination process could be extended to other ion-adsorption applications such as the reprocessing of lubricants or spent nuclear fuels in a near future. [DOI: 10.1115/1.4023294]
Pyogenic osteomyelitis of the occiput, the atlas, and the axis. A report of five cases.

Pyogenic osteomyelitis rarely affects the first and second cervical vertebrae, and when it does it can progress to abscess formation, compressing the spinal cord. If the process is unrecognized, it can be fatal. The cases of five patients are reported. Two patients were treated by anterior debridement and posterior cervical-occipital arthrodesis; one, by transoral drainage; one, by posterior cervical-occipital arthrodesis; and the fifth, by posterior atlanto-axial arthrodesis. The causative organism was Staphylococcus aureus in four patients and Pasteurella multocida in one. In all patients, intravenous antibiotics were used, followed by prolonged administration of oral antibiotics. All five patients recovered.
Smart Device Forensics - Acquisition, Analysis and Interpretation of Digital Evidences

Smart Device Forensics is a classification under Digital Forensics, which primarily deals with the investigation of digital evidence found in smart devices such as Smart phones, tablets and televisions. There is an enormous rate of increase in threats with ever growing releases of smart devices and rapid advancement in innovative technologies. In this paper, we report a digital forensics investigation procedure to acquire and analyze digital evidences found in a smart device based on file systems, logical memory storage and operating system architectures.
Terrazguero Smallholders and the Function of Agricultural Tribute in Sixteenth-Century Tepeaca, Mexico.

This work examines the role of agricultural tribute within sixteenth-century indigenous populations from the Tepeaca region. The allocation of agricultural areas to commoners was a crucial strategy for the support of local political institutions. However, such land allocations have not been calculated adequately due to our poor understanding of the local measurement units. This work estimates the size of agricultural tribute spaces by re-evaluating the equivalence between the ancient land measurements and the modern metric system. Doing so allows an assessment concerning food production within domestic households and the involvement of the political apparatus on their food subsistence base.
Wind Tunnel Evaluation of Powered Static Aerodynamics of an Aerobatic UAV

A wind tunnel test of an off-the-shelf scale model of the Edge 540 aerobatic aircraft shows substantial improvement of pitch and yaw authority upon application of propeller wash, without markedly changing the qualitative aerodynamic response. High thrust at low advance ratio linearizes the response of control surfaces (elevator, rudder; and to a lesser extent, ailerons) and delays stall. This offers potential for simplification of aerodynamic models for Unmanned Air Vehicles in maneuvering situations, in gust-response, and for unconventional vehicles transitioning from wingborne to rotor-borne flight. Calculation with the panel-method PMARC was surprisingly successful, at least at low angles of attack. On the other hand, a modern Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes computation (AVUS) was seen to underpredict both zero-lift drag and maximum lift coefficient, ironically suggesting that lower-order methods may be superior not only in implementation but in accuracy. Experimental uncertainty due to control surface hysteresis is a notable complication of using off-the-shelf hobby-airplanes as wind tunnel test articles. Nevertheless, systematic trends in control surface effectiveness with and without propwash were identified.
Risk assessment for occupational hazards during domestic refuse incineration

[Objective] To assess the health risk caused by the occupational hazards during domestic refuse incineration.[Methods]Based on the potential impact severity and exposure probability of occupational hazards,the health risk in a certain domestic refuse incinerating factory of Shanghai was assessed using the available model.[Results]Through systematic analysis,the health risk level was evaluated and the priorities for the occupational health work in this company was determined in the main operation units.[Conclusion]Effective risk assessment and analysis could provide us with the directive information for risk control of occupational hazards in sectors of domestic refuse incineration.
Application of Higher-Order TVD Resolution for Investigation of Transients Problems in Natural Gas Pipelines

A higher-order numerical procedure is applied to simulate typical transient phenomena in natural gas transportation. Reliable modeling and prediction of transients features in transmission pipelines are desirable for optimal control of gas deliverability, design and implementation of active controls, and modeling of operational behavior of network peripheral equipment (e.g., chokes, valves, compressors, etc.). As an alternative to the Method of Characteristics (MOC) that is widely used presently, a higher-order Total Variation Diminishing (TVD) method is used to model some transient problems. This, class of methods has the capability to capture fine-scale phenomena and provides a better resolution of frontal discontinuities. In this study, the TVD method is utilized in conjunction with upwind methods. Also, in order to ensure a stable time-stepping scheme over a wide range of Courant-Friedrich-Lewy (CFL) number, a special Runge-Kutta method is employed as the base solution algorithm to integrate the highly non-linear, hyperbolic equations which govern the transportation of natural gas in pipelines. The overall procedure is stable, robust and accurate when applied to solve practical problems with simulated pressure waves.Copyright © 1996 by ASME
The entanglements of transnational feminism and area studies

In this essay, I consider the relationship between transnational feminism and area studies. I suggest that transnational feminism’s long engagement with the difference offers a way in which to addr...
The Genetics of Addiction: Where Do We Go From Here?

We have made tremendous progress in understanding the genetic epidemiology of substance use problems. We understand a good deal about the genetic architecture of substance use disorders with respect to other psychiatric conditions, and how genetic influences change across development and as a function of the environment. We are further behind in identifying specific genes involved in substance use disorders. However, rather than blindly charging ahead with expensive gene identification efforts, our field would benefit from more thoughtful discussion about what strategies to pursue—both genetic and environmental—to have the greatest impact on reducing substance use problems.
What and How Social Commerce: Developing an Integrative Formative Model

Despite the rapid growth of social commerce, there is only a limited understanding of how social media technologies, marketers and customers can interact to achieve business initiatives and opportunities. This study develops an integrative formative model outlining key qualities and dimensions of social commerce and their interactions. The model was validated with a field survey of 1250 social commerce customers. The findings contribute to information systems (IS) research, and bear important implications for social commerce practice.
Judicial Opinions and the Legal Profession

Knapp and Hulbert describe ghostwriting in two critical legal arenas: judicial opinions and lawyer-written materials for indigent clients. The authors first explore the complex world of judicial opinion writing, focusing primarily on the use of law clerks to pen opinions for US Supreme Court justices. Then the focus shifts to lawyers who provide unacknowledged legal assistance to clients who cannot otherwise afford it, emphasizing how legal precedent and professional ethics govern such support. The authors conclude by offering reflections on the practice of ghostwriting in the judicial and legal context through the lens of the ethical framework introduced in Chap. 1.
Particle Nucleation and Growth in Supported Metal Catalysts

This paper will focus on the loss of activity which results from the exposure of supported metal catalysts to high temperatures, and in particular, on the mechanisms of nucleation and growth of the catalytically active metal particles. Attention will be confined primarily to the case of platinum particles supported on alumina substrates, as this has been the most widely studied system. However, the concepts discussed will be sufficiently general to provide insights into the behavior of related metal cluster systems. The following topics will be covered in some detail. a) The nucleation processes which lead to the formation of either metallic or oxidic particles. b) The phenomenon of “redispersion.” c) Mechanisms of growth and associated particle growth kinetics for particles supported on fiat substrates. d) Influence of substrate curvature on mechanisms of growth.