An unconfined, large-volume hydrogen/air explosion

Cause and results of the autoignition of 283 cubic meters of hydrogen gas, of which only about 10 percent exploded, are given. Results indicate that autoignition produces an explosion which could be described as a deflagration of explosive velocity, with a shock wave of sonic velocity and minor damage potential

Advances in AIDS Chemotherapy: The Asymmetric Synthesis of CRIXIVAN®

The discovery and development of an efficient, practical asymmetric synthesis of the HIV Protease inhibitor CRIXIVAN® is described. Particular emphasis is placed on the selective installation of each of the five stereogenic centers as well as design strategies associated with the preparation of a complex pharmaceutical agent needed in multiton quantities

German Idealism, Analytic Philosophy, and Realism

Can one know mind-independent reality? There are two fundamental positions concerning this question: either 1) mind-independent existence causes us to know mind-independent existence, or 2) all knowledge is a construct of the human mind, and therefore mind-independent existence is unknowable. This question holds enormous significance as it establishes the source of truth as being either mind-independent or mind-dependent. It thereby sets the stage for the type of epistemic claims that can be properly defended. Of all the myriad formulations of idealism, Analytic Philosophers have consistently singled out German Idealism to either reject or misappropriate for its own ends. The most significant and provocative occurrences of this trend can be found in the writings of Moore, Russell, Strawson, Sellars, McDowell and Brandom. One objective of this text is to explicate the manner in which these Analytic Philosophers either reject or borrow from German Idealism. A second objective of this text is to answer the following question: what does it mean for Analytic Philosophy when its leading members, such as McDowell and Brandom, continue in the Sellarsian tradition of couching traditional Analytic concerns within the framework of German Idealism? Will it be found, in the final pages of the Analytic tradition, that its original rejection of German Idealism was only a hiccup that restored the Anglo/American traditions back to 18th century German thought? More bluntly still, will we find that only in becoming idealists can Analytic Philosophers have a future? My analysis of Analytic Philosophy\u27s relationship to German Idealism, as it concerns our ability to know mind-independent existence, culminates in two related claims. First, Kant and Hegel hold superior epistemic views to Moore, Russell, Strawson, Sellars, McDowell and Brandom, in that Kant and Hegel can demonstrate their objects of knowledge, while the above noted Analytic thinkers cannot. Second, Sellars, McDowell and Brandom have maneuvered themselves into a corner by borrowing (directly and indirectly) from Kant and Hegel: in order to make their core conceptual, linguistic, and epistemic claims internally consistent, they must proceed to a version of German Idealism and deny their respective versions of realism

Low unesterified:esterified eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) plasma concentration ratio is associated with bipolar disorder episodes, and omega‐3 plasma concentrations are altered by treatment

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/115916/1/bdi12337_am.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/115916/2/bdi12337.pd

Characterization of the 4-canonical birationality of algebraic threefolds

In this article we present a 3-dimensional analogue of a well-known theorem of E. Bombieri (in 1973) which characterizes the bi-canonical birationality of surfaces of general type. Let $X$ be a projective minimal 3-fold of general type with $\mathbb{Q}$-factorial terminal singularities and the geometric genus $p_g(X)\ge 5$. We show that the 4-canonical map $\phi_4$ is {\it not} birational onto its image if and only if $X$ is birationally fibred by a family $\mathscr{C}$ of irreducible curves of geometric genus 2 with $K_X\cdot C_0=1$ where $C_0$ is a general irreducible member in $\mathscr{C}$.Comment: 25 pages, to appear in Mathematische Zeitschrif

Clinical effectiveness of hymenoptera venom immunotherapy

Treatment failure during venom immunotherapy (VIT) may be associated with a variety of risk factors. Our aim was to evaluate the association of baseline serum tryptase concentration (BTC) and of other parameters with the frequency of VIT failure during the maintenance phase. In this observational prospective multicenter study, we followed 357 patients with established honey bee or vespid venom allergy after the maintenance dose of VIT had been reached. In all patients, VIT effectiveness was either verified by sting challenge (n = 154) or patient self-reporting of the outcome of a field sting (n = 203). Data were collected on BTC, age, gender, preventive use of anti-allergic drugs (oral antihistamines and/or corticosteroids) right after a field sting, venom dose, antihypertensive medication, type of venom, side effects during VIT, severity of index sting reaction preceding VIT, and duration of VIT. Relative rates were calculated with generalized additive models. 22 patients (6.2%) developed generalized symptoms during sting challenge or after a field sting. A strong association between the frequency of VIT failure and BTC could be excluded. Due to wide confidence bands, however, weaker effects (odds ratios <3) of BTC were still possible, and were also suggested by a selective analysis of patients who had a sting challenge. The most important factor associated with VIT failure was a honey bee venom allergy. Preventive use of anti-allergic drugs may be associated with a higher protection rate. It is unlikely that an elevated BTC has a strong negative effect on the rate of treatment failures. The magnitude of the latter, however, may depend on the method of effectiveness assessment. Failure rate is higher in patients suffering from bee venom allergy

Anti-Pluricanonical Systems On Q-Fano Threefolds

We investigate birationality of the anti-pluricanonical map $\phi_{-m}$, the rational map defined by the anti-pluricanonical system $|-mK|$, on $\mathbb{Q}$-Fano threefolds.Comment: 18 page

A Cas9-based toolkit to program gene expression in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Despite the extensive use of&nbsp;Saccharomyces cerevisiae&nbsp;as a platform for synthetic biology, strain engineering remains slow and laborious. Here, we employ CRISPR/Cas9 technology to build a cloning-free toolkit that addresses commonly encountered obstacles in metabolic engineering, including chromosomal integration locus and promoter selection, as well as protein localization and solubility. The toolkit includes 23 Cas9-sgRNA plasmids, 37 promoters of various strengths and temporal expression profiles, and 10 protein-localization, degradation&nbsp;and solubility tags.&nbsp;We facilitated the use of these parts via a web-based tool, that automates the generation of DNA fragments for integration. Our system builds upon existing gene editing methods in the thoroughness with which the parts are standardized and characterized, the types and number of parts available and the ease with which our methodology can be used to perform genetic edits in yeast. We demonstrated the applicability of this toolkit by optimizing the expression of a challenging but industrially important enzyme, taxadiene synthase (TXS). This approach enabled us to diagnose an issue with TXS solubility, the resolution of which yielded a 25-fold improvement in taxadiene production

Atomic excitation during recollision-free ultrafast multi-electron tunnel ionization

Modern intense ultrafast pulsed lasers generate an electric field of sufficient strength to permit tunnel ionization of the valence electrons in atoms. This process is usually treated as a rapid succession of isolated events, in which the states of the remaining electrons are neglected. Such electronic interactions are predicted to be weak, the exception being recollision excitation and ionization caused by linearly-polarized radiation. In contrast, it has recently been suggested that intense field ionization may be accompanied by a two-stage `shake-up' reaction. Here we report a unique combination of experimental techniques that enables us to accurately measure the tunnel ionization probability for argon exposed to 50 femtosecond laser pulses. Most significantly for the current study, this measurement is independent of the optical focal geometry, equivalent to a homogenous electric field. Furthermore, circularly-polarized radiation negates recollision. The present measurements indicate that tunnel ionization results in simultaneous excitation of one or more remaining electrons through shake-up. From an atomic physics standpoint, it may be possible to induce ionization from specific states, and will influence the development of coherent attosecond XUV radiation sources. Such pulses have vital scientific and economic potential in areas such as high-resolution imaging of in-vivo cells and nanoscale XUV lithography.Comment: 17 pages, 4 figures, original format as accepted by Nature Physic

On complex surfaces diffeomorphic to rational surfaces

In this paper we prove that no complex surface of general type is diffeomorphic to a rational surface, thereby completing the smooth classification of rational surfaces and the proof of the Van de Ven conjecture on the smooth invariance of Kodaira dimension.Comment: 34 pages, AMS-Te