cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Community wildfire preparedness: a global state-of-the-knowledge summary of social science research

This article builds on findings from a synthesis of fire social science research that was published from 2000 to 2010 to understand what has been learned more recently about public response to wildfires. Two notable changes were immediately noted in the fairly substantial number of articles published between 2011 and 2014. First, while over 90 % of the articles found in the initial synthesis were US-based studies, roughly half of the articles published since 2010 have been conducted outside the USA, the majority from Australia. Second, while the primary focus of earlier studies was on pre-fire mitigation efforts on both public and private lands, roughly half of the recent articles focused on dynamics during and after a fire. Overall, findings from the current review re-enforce key themes identified in the previous synthesis work and provide a deeper and more nuanced understanding of how certain variables, such as risk perception, may influence public response to wildfires. In addition, several important dynamics emerged across studies: the similarity of findings across countries, increased work across the temporal gradient, the importance of social interactions and of place attachment in shaping response, the need to take local knowledge and context into account, and the importance of financial support. These patterns suggest that while no single outreach approach or policy is likely to be effective everywhere or for everyone, efforts that facilitate development of relationships, within communities and between community members and fire personnel, can contribute to increased preparedness at the individual and community level by facilitating information exchange and helping to build a sense of community.
Microhabitat Distribution of Velvetbean Caterpillar (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) Pupae in Soybean Fields in Louisiana

The microhabitat distribution of velvetbean caterpillar, Anticarsia gemmatalis Hubner, pupae was studied in soybean field cages and fields during 1985, 1986, and 1987. Larval density did not affect pupal horizontal distribution patterns related to direction and distance from the plant row. Pupae were found equally on both sides of soybean plant rows in a cage study. Pupae were found on and below the soil surface but not on the plant. The majority (84.5%) of pupae were found <2 cm under the soil surface. Soybean with conventional (91 cm) and narrow (51 cm) row spacings had different pupal horizontal distribution patterns. In narrow row spacing, equal numbers and similar dispersion patterns of pupae were found on either side of the plant row. In conventional row spacing, pupal densities varied inversely with distance from the row. Also, pupal densities were slightly biased to the north side (4:6) of the plant rows in 1986, and this trend was extreme (2:8) in 1987 when plant canopy was barely closed. Implications for pupal sampling are discussed.
Evidence for a Mendelian factor controlling the cytokinin requirement of cultured tobacco cells

Cultured leaf tissues of Nicotiana tabacum L. cv. “Havana 425” normally require an exogenous source of cytokinin for rapid growth; stem-cortex tissues do not—ie, they exhibit the cytokinin-habituated phenotype. We found that plants regenerated from cloned cortex and leaf tissues from one particular plant differed in leaf-tissue phenotype: Leaf tissues derived from leaf cells exhibited the normal, nonhabituated phenotype, whereas leaf tissues derived from cortex cells were cytokinin-habituated. This difference in leaf phenotype was not found using leaf and cortex cells from six other donor plants. The inheritance of the habituated leaf trait was studied in tissues from cortex-derived plants and hybrids between these plants and normal plants. F1 hybrids were intermediate between the parental types in degree of habituation. No differences were found between reciprocal hybrids. These results suggest that the habituated leaf trait is an incompletely dominant, nuclear trait. Both parental and intermediate phenotypes were recovered in the F2 progeny. The frequency of habituated leaf progeny in the F2 and backcross populations provide evidence that the trait is regulated at a single genetic locus.
The minimum forcing number for the torus and hypercube

Let G be a graph with a perfect matching M. Define the forcing number of M in G to be the smallest size of a subset S ⊆ M that is in no other perfect matching. In this paper, we present a property of bipartite graphs G that acts as a lower bound on the forcing number of perfect matchings in G. We then apply this to the torus and the hypercube, proving that the minimum forcing number of a perfect matching on a 2m × 2n torus with m ≥ n is 2n, and that the minimum forcing number on an n-dimensional hypercube is 2n/4 if n is even.
Stress-based convergence analysis for p -adaptive hierarchical finite element analysis

Abstract An important step in any finite element analysis is to determine the accuracy of the model used. For linear elastic analyses, accuracy can be measured by the convergence of the solution. Typically error norms based on the strain energy of the system are employed. However, this method of error calculation is ineffective in regions of large stress gradients or concentrated loads. This paper studies the effectiveness of including an a posteriori L 2 error norm to measure the convergence of the stress solution of a hierarchic p -adaptive program. This norm is compared to a strain energy based a priori error measure for two example cases. It is determined that the L 2 stress error norm effectively measures elemental convergence particularly in regions of large stress gradients, and it can be used effectively with the a priori error estimator to determine when a solution has converged within a given tolerance.
Inhibition of excitatory neurotransmitter–nitric oxide signaling pathway by inhalational anesthetics

Abstract Primary cultures of cerebral neurons of Sprague–Dawley rats increased cyclic GMP production in response to the stimulation of excitatory amino acids, including N -methyl- d -aspartate, quisqualate, kainate and (±)-1-aminocylopentane- trans -1,3-dicarboxylic acid. This increased cyclic GMP production was significantly inhibited by halothane or isoflurane at clinically relevant concentrations (0.5–2%). This inhibition was reversible by treatment with l -arginine, the substrate of nitric oxide synthase. However, the increase of cyclic GMP production stimulated by sodium nitroprusside, an activator of soluble guanylate cyclase, was not inhibited by halothane or isoflurane. Neither halothane nor isoflurane affected the basal cyclic GMP production. Activation of the excitatory amino acid neurotransmitter-stimulated nitric oxide–guanylate cyclase signaling pathway increases intracellular cyclic GMP content in neurons. Our results suggest that halothane or isoflurane inhibited this signaling pathway stimulated by selective agonists of each subtype of receptors for excitatory amino acid neurotransmitters. This inhibition may be involved in mechanisms of anesthesia and analgesia. The site(s) of the inhibition is (are) proximal to the activation of neuronal nitric oxide synthase.
Seismic response of a 40-storey buckling-restrained braced frame designed for the Los Angeles region

SUMMARY This study utilized nonlinear response history analysis to compare the seismic demand on three variations of a 40-storey buckling-restrained braced frame designed for high seismic hazard in the Los Angeles region. The three designs were referred to as a ‘code-based design’, based on the 2006 International Building Code, a ‘performance-based design’, based on criteria published by the Los Angeles Tall Building Design Council (LATBSDC) and a ‘performance-based design plus’, based on newly developed criteria from The Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research Center (PEER). The response history analysis utilized spectrum-matched ground motions as well as simulated ground motions for the Puente Hills fault. The spectrum-matched motions were selected from the Next Generation Attenuation of Ground Motions (NGA) database, which is largely composed of recorded motions and scaled to five hazard levels. The simulated ground motions were broadband signals generated from a moment magnitude (Mw) 7.15 scenario rupture of the Puente Hills fault for two near fault regions and exhibit long period energy content that significantly exceeds the uniform hazard spectrum. Structural performance was assessed in terms of exceedance of a safe inter-storey drift ratio (IDR). It was seen that the simulated ground motions impose higher IDR demands on the structures than the spectrum-matched NGA ground motions. Furthermore, the number of instances of exceedance of a safe IDR, considered for this study as IDR = 0.03, is substantially higher for the simulated ground motions, pointing to the importance of considering such motions in the collapse prevention of tall buildings on a site-specific basis. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Earthquake analysis of axisymmetric towers partially submerged in water

A method for analysis of response of axisymmetric towers partly submerged in water to earthquake ground motion is presented. The tower is idealized as a finite element system. The hydrodynamic terms are determined by solving the Laplace equation, governing the dynamics of incompressible fluids, subject to appropriate boundary conditions. For cylindrical towers, these solutions are obtained as explicit mathematical solutions of the boundary value problems; whereas they are obtained by the finite element method in case of towers with non-cylindrical outside surface. The response to earthquake ground motion is determined by step-by-step integration of the equations of motion. Analyses of two actual intake towers are presented to illustrate results obtained by this method. The small computation times required for these analyses demonstrate that the method is very efficient. The effectiveness of this formulation lies in avoiding the analysis of a large system by using a substructure approach and in exploiting the important feature that structural response to earthquake ground motion is essentially contained in the first few modes of vibration of the tower with no surrounding water.
Collation Strategies for the Buddhist Canon—As Seen in the Frequency and Impact of Character Variance in Canonical Editions of the Song Gaoseng Zhuan 宋高僧傳 (T.2061)

The different readings given in the apparatus of the authoritative Taishō edition of the Buddhist canon are widely used, but we do not know much about their relationship to previous efforts, their accuracy and comprehensiveness, because the witnesses used in the collation are not readily available to researchers. Moreover, we do not know exactly how other canonical editions that were discovered in the 20th century compare to the Taishō edition and to what degree a further collation might be useful. This paper tries to answer some of these questions by expanding the Taishō apparatus of the Song Gaoseng Zhuan (T.2061) through collation with the Qisha canon and a categorization of the variations encountered. The combination of qualitative judgments about the variations together with quantitative data about their occurrence makes it possible to present a clearer picture of the relationship between these two versions of the text.
Accommodating students with disabilities

Community colleges serve a higher percentage of students with disabilities than any other sector of higher education. An understanding of the requirements imposed by disability laws in accommodating those students is important for all community college leaders.
Sex specific gene regulation and expression QTLs in mouse macrophages from a strain intercross.

Background A powerful way to identify genes for complex traits it to combine genetic and genomic methods. Many trait quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for complex traits are sex specific, but the reason for this is not well understood. Methodology/principal findings RNA was prepared from bone marrow derived macrophages of 93 female and 114 male F(2) mice derived from a strain intercross between apoE-deficient mice on the AKR and DBA/2 genetic backgrounds, and was subjected to transcriptome profiling using microarrays. A high density genome scan was performed using a mouse SNP chip, and expression QTLs (eQTLs) were located for expressed transcripts. Using suggestive and significant LOD score cutoffs of 3.0 and 4.3, respectively, thousands of eQTLs in the female and male cohorts were identified. At the suggestive LOD threshold the majority of the eQTLs were trans eQTLs, mapping unlinked to the position of the gene. Cis eQTLs, which mapped to the location of the gene, had much higher LOD scores than trans eQTLs, indicating their more direct effect on gene expression. The majority of cis eQTLs were common to both males and females, but only approximately 1% of the trans eQTLs were shared by both sexes. At the significant LOD threshold, the majority of eQTLs were cis eQTLs, which were mostly sex-shared, while the trans eQTLs were overwhelmingly sex-specific. Pooling the male and female data, 31% of expressed transcripts were expressed at different levels in males vs. females after correction for multiple testing. Conclusions/significance These studies demonstrate a large sex effect on gene expression and trans regulation, under conditions where male and female derived cells were cultured ex vivo and thus without the influence of endogenous sex steroids. These data suggest that eQTL data from male and female mice should be analyzed separately, as many effects, such as trans regulation are sex specific.
Evaluation of Transient Ischemic Attack in an Emergency Department Observation Unit

Objective To evaluate the feasibility of a protocol for evaluation of transient ischemic attack (TIA) in an Emergency Department Observation Unit (EDOU), and assess the risk of early stroke after such an evaluation. Methods All adult patients presenting to the Emergency Department (ED) with signs and symptoms consistent with TIA were prospectively enrolled in this observational study over a period of 3 years. Patients underwent a standardized TIA evaluation per protocol. Risk of subsequent stroke at 48 h, 1 week, 1 month, and 3 months was prospectively assessed. Results In total, 418 patients were seen during the study period, and all were evaluated per the EDOU TIA protocol. The mean age was 73.1 (±13.3) years and 53.8% were males. Comorbidities included hypertension in 71.5%, diabetes mellitus in 20.1%, prior TIA in 19.6%, and prior ischemic stroke in 19.6% of the cohort. Brain CT, neurology consult, electrocardiogram, carotid ultrasound, and additional tests were performed, and education was given. A total of 30.4% of the patients were dismissed directly from the EDOU. The risk of stroke at 2 days was 0.96%, at 7 days 1.2%, at 30 days 1.9%, and 2.4% at 90 days. Conclusion An Emergency Department Observation Unit Protocol for TIA is a feasible option for expedited evaluation of these patients.
Evaluation of a novel flash lamp system (FLS) incorporating optimal spectral filtration for the treatment of photoaging

Background and Objectives Improvement in photoaging using laser and Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) modalities is well documented in the literature. We report a prospective study evaluating the safety and efficacy of a novel flash lamp IPL system incorporating a spectral filtration system designed to maximize improvement of facial dyschromias, telangiectases, and skin texture. The device was a prototype xenon flashlamp pulsed light. The novel features of this IPL device are the extended pulse duration and smooth temporal pulse profile. Study Design/Materials and Methods We enrolled 23 patients (22 female, 1 male) of Fitzpatrick skin type I–IV with evidence of photoaging (lentigenes, ephelides, telangiectases, rhytides). Each patient underwent test sites on their back to establish safe treatment parameters. Using treatment fluences of 20–37 J/cm2, each patient was given 2–4 full-face treatments separated by 3–4 weeks. Results Test sites revealed that shorter wavelength filters and shorter pulse durations increased the risk of epidermal injury. Objective assessment by evaluation of pre and post treatment photographs of the face showed an average improvement of 53% in hyperpigmentation, 39% in telangiectases, and 8% in wrinkles. There were no significant adverse effects. Conclusions The novel flash lamp IPL system in this study was safe and effective in reducing vascular and pigment dyschromias in patients with skin types I through IV. Lasers Surg. Med. © 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Clonal analysis of sucrase-isomaltase expression in the human colon adenocarcinoma Caco-2 cells

To investigate the biosynthetic basis for the mosaic expression of brush border enzymes in confluent Caco-2 cells, a human colon carcinoma cell line exhibiting characteristics of adult small intestinal enterocytes, we have obtained a series of clones differing markedly in their growth rates, amounts of transforming growth factor-alpha/epidermal growth factor-like activity released into the culture medium, and sucrase-isomaltase (SI) activity. Other intestinal markers (aminopeptidase N, dipeptidylpeptidase IV, lactase, alkaline phosphatase and ‘crypt cell antigen’) displayed a much more limited variability in expression, suggesting that the Caco-2 cell clones we have obtained did not differ in their overall ability to differentiate. Immunofluorescence staining, metabolic labelling with radioactive methionine and hybridization analysis of SI mRNA abundance were used to investigate SI synthesis and its regulation in clones endowed with low, intermediate or high sucrase activity. The results obtained have demonstrated heterogeneous SI expression, even in clonal cell lines, and a negative correlation between SI expression and growth factor concentrations in the culture medium, suggesting an autocrine regulation of cell proliferation and differentiation in confluent Caco-2 cells. Pulse-chase experiments using the two clones endowed with the lowest and highest levels of SI activity, followed by immunoprecipitation of labelled SI with epitope-specific antibodies and SDS/PAGE analysis, suggested that both transcriptional and post-translational mechanisms play a role in the regulation of SI expression in intestinal cells.
Electrophoresis and detection of tin-labeled DNAs on open-faced gels

Alternative protocols are necessary for the use of polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in genome scale sequencing and mapping studies. The use of radioisotopes and manual gel reading will have to be replaced with a flexible labeling system that can be detected at levels similar or to better than radioisotopes but allows automated, high-speed detection. Labeling with stable isotopes is such an alternative. These nondecaying isotopes have the potential to be detected in sub-attomole quantities, despite being surrounded by the gel matrix, due to the high selectivity and sensitivity of resonance-ionization spectroscopy coupled with a mass spectrometer. In this study the detection limits of sputter-initiated resonance ionization spectroscopy (SIRIS) are investigated using thin, open-faced polyacrylamide gels supported by plastic. This system allows reproducibility and flexibility in the choice of gel size and buffer system since the gel can be cast, washed free of polymerization by-products, dried, and stored until use. Various concentrations of an Sn-labeled oligomer were run on these gels and loads of 5 femtomoles/mm could be detected on a 240 microns thick gel. Gels as thin as 60 microns lower the detectable concentration loads to 1 femtomole/mm. The limiting factor is tin contamination in the gel which, if reduced, will further increase detection. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) products can also be labeled and detected using Sn isotopes, which could prove useful in mapping studies. Also presented are techniques which will facilitate resolution of these PCR products on open-faced gels by employing discontinuous buffers systems and DNA mobility modifiers.
Nonkin Natural Mentors in the Lives of Older Youths in Foster Care

This study explored the nonkin natural mentoring relationships among older youths in foster care. Three hundred thirty-nine youths nearing their exit from one state’s alternative care system were interviewed. Those that reported the presence of a natural mentor, 62% (n=211), were subsequently asked about how they met their mentor, how long they have known their mentor, how frequently they have contact with their mentor, and the quality of the relationship. Seventy percent of the youth with mentors reported having known their mentors for over 1 year. Youth reported high levels of contact and relationship quality. Ethnic group membership, gender, where youth were living, and clinical characteristics were associated with individual mentoring characteristics. Child and adult service delivery systems might benefit from considering ways to support the continuation of these relationships during the transition period.
Harrison White as (Not Quite) Poststructuralist

This paper explores the overlaps and divergences between network sociologist Harrison White’s second edition of Identity and Control: How Social Formations Emerge (2008) and poststructuralist theor...
A molecular basis for bidirectional communication between the immune and neuroendocrine systems.

An accumulation of data has been obtained showing hormones from neuroendocrine tissues influence various parameters of lymphocytes' biological activities and, in a reciprocal fashion, products of the immune system have been shown to influence neuroendocrine function. These findings have led to the formation of a new scientific subdiscipline which we term neuroimmunoendocrinology. The implication of these studies is that under various cognitive stimuli, hormones produced by the neuroendocrine system may influence the immune system in its response to internal (network hypothesis) and external stimuli (virus, tumors, bacteria, etc.). A converse situation may arise in that under noncognitive stimulations such as disease or infection, the immune system may operate in eliminating the infectious agent as well as producing hormones (i.e., adrenocorticotropin hormone and/or endorphins), lymphokines, and monokines, which may influence many physiologic responses. Moreover, the findings that hormone receptors are common to both systems provide additional evidence that the immune system has the capacity to react on a molecular level much like a circulating neuron or specialized endocrine cell. In this summary, we will describe the interrelatedness between the immune and neuroendocrine systems with regard to (1) the effect of lymphokines and monokines on neuroendocrine tissue, (2) the production of neuroendocrine hormones by cells of the immune system, (3) the influence of such hormones on immunocyte function as measured by in vitro biological assays, (4) the biochemical evidence for shared receptors on cells of the immune and neuroendocrine systems, and lastly (5) some of the clinical implications.
Beyond Log-Linear Models: Boosted Minimum Error Rate Training for N-best Re-ranking

Current re-ranking algorithms for machine translation rely on log-linear models, which have the potential problem of underfitting the training data. We present BoostedMERT, a novel boosting algorithm that uses Minimum Error Rate Training (MERT) as a weak learner and builds a re-ranker far more expressive than log-linear models. BoostedMERT is easy to implement, inherits the efficient optimization properties of MERT, and can quickly boost the BLEU score on N-best re-ranking tasks. In this paper, we describe the general algorithm and present preliminary results on the IWSLT 2007 Arabic-English task.
BLINC: multilevel traffic classification in the dark

We present a fundamentally different approach to classifying traffic flows according to the applications that generate them. In contrast to previous methods, our approach is based on observing and identifying patterns of host behavior at the transport layer. We analyze these patterns at three levels of increasing detail (i) the social, (ii) the functional and (iii) the application level. This multilevel approach of looking at traffic flow is probably the most important contribution of this paper. Furthermore, our approach has two important features. First, it operates in the dark, having (a) no access to packet payload, (b) no knowledge of port numbers and (c) no additional information other than what current flow collectors provide. These restrictions respect privacy, technological and practical constraints. Second, it can be tuned to balance the accuracy of the classification versus the number of successfully classified traffic flows. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach on three real traces. Our results show that we are able to classify 80%-90% of the traffic with more than 95% accuracy.
Conservatism, Optimal Disclosure Policy, and the Timeliness of Financial Reports

We develop a theory of the relation between biases in financial reporting and managers' incentives to issue timely voluntary disclosures. We find that firms with relatively more conservative accounting are less likely to make timely voluntary disclosures than firms with less conservative accounting. Therefore, price is more timely in reflecting the news of firms with less conservative accounting. Prior research has assumed that the timeliness by which news is impounded in price is uncorrelated with the nature of accounting earnings and has ascribed a concave earnings‐return relation to the accounting system reporting bad news on a more timely basis than good news. In our theory, a concave relation is not necessarily attributable to a difference in the way the accounting system reports good vs. bad news. Rather, our prediction stems from how biases in mandatory financial reports determine which firms optimally choose to make voluntary preemptive disclosures and which do not. Hence, our theory provides an a...
Novel, Magnetically Guided Catheter for Endocardial Mapping and Radiofrequency Catheter Ablation

Background— Ablation of complex arrhythmias would be greatly facilitated by more precise control of ablation catheters. A feasibility study was performed in animals to evaluate a novel magnetic guidance system (MGS) that generates a magnetic field to control the movement and position of a magnetic ablation catheter. Methods and Results— The MGS is composed of a digital biplanar fluoroscope within an array of superconducting electromagnets that surround the torso of the experimental animal and a computer control system that generates a composite magnetic field for directional catheter deflection. Magnetic catheter navigation was performed in dogs and pigs (20 to 30 kg). A 7F magnetic ablation catheter was used for intracardiac navigation and radiofrequency ablation. The performance of a standard 7F deflectable catheter was not affected by the MGS. The magnetic catheter was navigated successfully to 51 predefined targets throughout the heart in 6 animals. In 5 animals, the magnetic catheter, guided by a 3D ...
Serum uric acid and cognitive function in community-dwelling older adults.

Among possible markers of age-related cognitive decline, uric acid (UA) is controversial because it has antioxidant properties but is increased in diseases that often lead to cognitive impairment. In this study of 96 elderly adults, participants with mildly elevated (but normal) serum UA were 2.7 to 5.9 times more likely to score in the lowest quartile of the sample on measures of processing speed, verbal memory, and working memory. Even after controlling for age, sex, race, education, diabetes, hypertension, smoking, and alcohol abuse, the multivariate-adjusted odds of poor verbal memory and working memory remained significant (ps .05). Despite its antioxidant properties, these findings suggest that even mild elevations of UA might increase the risk of cognitive decline among older adults.
Heme Oxygenase-1-derived Carbon Monoxide Induces the Mycobacterium tuberculosis Dormancy Regulon

The mechanisms that allow Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) to persist in human tissue for decades and to then abruptly cause disease are not clearly understood. Regulatory elements thought to assist Mtb to enter such a state include the heme two-component sensor kinases DosS and DosT and the cognate response regulator DosR. We have demonstrated previously that O2, nitric oxide (NO), and carbon monoxide (CO) are regulatory ligands of DosS and DosT. Here, we show that in addition to O2 and NO, CO induces the complete Mtb dormancy (Dos) regulon. Notably, we demonstrate that CO is primarily sensed through DosS to induce the Dos regulon, whereas DosT plays a less prominent role. We also show that Mtb infection of macrophage cells significantly increases the expression, protein levels, and enzymatic activity of heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1, the enzyme that produces CO), in an NO-independent manner. Furthermore, exploiting HO-1+/+ and HO-1-/- bone marrow-derived macrophages, we demonstrate that physiologically relevant levels of CO induce the Dos regulon. Finally, we demonstrate that increased HO-1 mRNA and protein levels are produced in the lungs of Mtb-infected mice. Our data suggest that during infection, O2, NO, and CO are being sensed concurrently rather than independently via DosS and DosT. We conclude that CO, a previously unrecognized host factor, is a physiologically relevant Mtb signal capable of inducing the Dos regulon, which introduces a new paradigm for understanding the molecular basis of Mtb persistence.
A remote file system for heterogeneous network topologies

Achieving high performance in a distributed computing environment is a combination of efforts between the network, distributed operating systems, and the applications. All too often the focus of improvement excludes the opportunity for the application to make an impact on performance. In this study we provide a facility where the application characteristics can be employed in formulating a distributed solution. The specific problem being considered is remote file services, although the general ideas can be applied to other areas. Our file system permits the application to indicate the type of caching and transfer strategies most suitable for each remote file access instance: depending on the application will effect the load realized on the network. Earlier work provided techniques to characterize application behavior through simple profiles. This profile data can be employed in selecting what kind of caching and transfer strategies would be most suitable to minimize traffic on the network. We describe the architecture of our file system. We show how the system provides for efficient network performance by realization of reduced traffic on the network for each application. This application data approach will always provide better performance than any random based model design. >
Reversible gating controlled by enzymes at nanostructured interface.

A nanostructured biocatalytic interface reversibly gating electrochemical reactions upon chemical signals processed by immobilized enzymes was architectured. The chemical signals were converted to local interfacial pH changes causing restructuring of the stimuli-responsive polymer and switching ON–OFF the electrochemical reaction.
Kepler mission highlights

During the first 33.5 days of science-mode operation of the Kepler Mission, the stellar flux of 156,000 stars were observed continuously. The data show the presence of more than 1800 eclipsing binary stars, over 700 stars with planetary candidates, and variable stars of amazing variety. Analyses of the commissioning data also show transits, occultations and light emitted from the known exoplanet HAT-P7b. The depth of the occultation is similar in amplitude to that expected from a transiting Earth-size planet and demonstrates that the Mission has the precision necessary to detect such planets. On 15 June 2010, the Kepler Mission released most of the data from the first quarter of observations. At the time of this data release, 706 stars from this first data set have exoplanet candidates with sizes from as small as that of the Earth to larger than that of Jupiter. More than half the candidates on the released list have radii less than half that of Jupiter. Five candidates are present in and near the habitable zone; two near super-Earth size, one similar in size to Neptune, and two bracketing the size of Jupiter. The released data also include five possible multi-planet systems. One of these has two Neptune-size (2.3 and 2.5 Earth-radius) candidates with near-resonant periods as well as a super-Earth-size planet in a very short period orbit.
Overview of harm reduction treatments for alcohol problems

Abstract As evidenced by the tremendous range of scholarly articles included in this special issue, it is readily apparent that harm reduction is more than a theory, treatment approach, or policy. Rather, harm reduction is an orientation and belief system that has widespread empirical support as a means to improve the lives and functioning of individuals who use and abuse alcohol. In this article, we review recent empirical articles and scholarly reviews of harm reduction treatments for alcohol abuse and dependence. We focus this review on peer-reviewed articles published in the last 3 years, with a particular emphasis on interventions designed to reduce alcohol-related harm, including overall levels of consumption and alcohol-related problems. We conclude with a section on books, Web sites, and training and treatment centres devoted to harm reduction psychotherapy.
Metropolitan area wavelength-division multiplexing testbeds for enterprise computing and disaster recovery

Fiber optic data communication networks face unique requirements for applications such as disaster recovery of multiterabyte and petabyte databases. We present experimental results from several enterprise computing testbeds that evaluate dense wavelength-division multiplexing (DWDM) performance in metropolitan area datacom networks. Many networking issues can be addressed through the components used within the DWDM platform; we discuss how current and emerging requirements can be addressed by new packages for 10-Gbit/s links, clock recovery circuits, and wavelength lockers. A comparison of three DWDM platforms evaluated in these testbeds is given, including features such as network bandwidth, scalability, performance over distance, and ease of management. We also report performance of datacom protocols such as enterprise system connection (ESCON), fiber connection (FICON), and FICON Bridge, when extended beyond industry standard distances using DWDM.
Performance evaluation of the QoS enhanced IEEE 802.11e MAC layer

Much research work is currently focusing on the optimization of the MAC performance of high data-rate next generation wireless local area networks (WLANs). In particular, the IEEE 802.11 task group E is working on a draft proposal for a QoS-aware MAC protocol for the most widespread WLAN technology. This draft considers several service differentiation mechanisms, based on both contention and polling schemes, whose effectiveness is still under investigation by the task group. In this paper, we study the performance of this 802.11e MAC protocol by means of computer simulations in which the specifications given in the draft have been implemented in great detail. Real-life scenarios, such as home networking and hot spot environments, are considered to evaluate the effectiveness of the various 802.11e QoS mechanisms in supporting voice, video and data applications.
Communicology and Culturology: Semiotic Phenomenological Method in Applied Small Group Research

Communicology is the science of human communication where consciousness is constituted as a medium of communication at four interconnected levels of interaction experience: intrapersonal (embodied), interpersonal (dyadic), group (social), and inter-group (cultural). The focus of the paper is the group level of communication across generations, thus constituting inter-group communication that stabilizes norms (forms a culture). I propose to explicate the way in which the method of semiotic phenomenology informs the pioneering work at the University of Toronto by Tom McFeat, a Harvard trained cultural anthropologist, on small group cultures as an experimental research methodology. Rather than the cognitiveanalytic (Husserl‘s transcendental eidetic) techniques suggest by Don Ihde as a pseudo "experimental phenomenology", McFeat provides an applied method for the empirical experimental constitution of culture in conscious experience. Group cultures are constructed in the communicological practices of group formation and transformation by means of a selfgenerating group narrative (myth) design. McFeat‘s method consists of three steps of culture formation by communication that are: (1) Content-Ordering, (2) Task-Ordering, and (3) Group-Ordering, i.e., what Ernst Cassirer and Karl Jaspers call the logic of culture or Culturology. These steps are compared to the descriptive phenomenology research procedures suggested by Amedeo Giorgi following Husserl‘s approach: (1) Find a sense of the whole, (2) Determine meaning units, (3) Transform the natural attitude expressions into phenomenologically, psychologically sensitive expressions. A second correlation will be made to Richard Lanigan‘s semiotic phenomenology method following the work of Cassirer, Jaspers, and Merleau-Ponty: (1) Description of Signs, (2) Reduction of Signifiers, and (3) Interpretation of Signifieds.
List processing in real time on a serial computer

A real-time list processing system is one in which the time required by the elementary list operations (e.g. CONS, CAR, CDR, RPLACA, RPLACD, EQ, and ATOM in LISP) is bounded by a (small) constant. Classical implementations of list processing systems lack this property because allocating a list cell from the heap may cause a garbage collection, which process requires time proportional to the heap size to finish. A real-time list processing system is presented which continuously reclaims garbage, including directed cycles, while linearizing and compacting the accessible cells into contiguous locations to avoid fragmenting the free storage pool. The program is small and requires no time-sharing interrupts, making it suitable for microcode. Finally, the system requires the same average time, and not more than twice the space, of a classical implementation, and those space requirements can be reduced to approximately classical proportions by compact list representation. Arrays of different sizes, a program stack, and hash linking are simple extensions to our system, and reference counting is found to be inferior for many applications.
Does Operative Fixation of an Osteochondritis Dissecans Loose Body Result in Healing and Long-Term Maintenance of Knee Function?

BackgroundOsteochondritis dissecans (OCD) can progress to loose body formation, resulting in a grade IV defect. The decision to fix versus excise the loose body is controversial. Published operative fixation outcomes are small case series with short follow-up.HypothesisOperative fixation (ORIF) of the loose body into the grade IV defect will heal and approximate “normal” knee function at long-term follow-up.Study DesignCase series; Level of evidence, 4.MethodsTwelve patients were identified who underwent ORIF of a knee OCD loose body into the grade IV osteochondral defects ranging in size from 2.0 to 8.0 cm 2 (mean, 3.5 cm2). After 12 weeks, hardware was removed, and healing was assessed. Long-term outcomes were assessed with a Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) and a Marx activity score.ResultsArthroscopy for screw removal revealed stable healing in 92% (11 of 12) of patients. No patients required subsequent surgery for a loose body. At an average of 9.2 years’ follow-up (range, 3.8-15.8...
Analysis of gene expression in prostate cancer epithelial and interstitial stromal cells using laser capture microdissection

Background The prostate gland represents a multifaceted system in which prostate epithelia and stroma have distinct physiological roles. To understand the interaction between stroma and glandular epithelia, it is essential to delineate the gene expression profiles of these two tissue types in prostate cancer. Most studies have compared tumor and normal samples by performing global expression analysis using a mixture of cell populations. This report presents the first study of prostate tumor tissue that examines patterns of differential expression between specific cell types using laser capture microdissection (LCM).
Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging to assess the impact of maternal habitus on cardiac remodeling during pregnancy

Background It is well known that the maternal cardiovascular system undergoes profound alterations throughout pregnancy. Interest in understanding these changes has led investigators to use evolving and increasingly sophisticated techniques to study these changes, most recently with 2-dimensional echocardiography. Despite its clinical utility, echocardiography has limitations, and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMRI) has become increasingly used for evaluation of cardiac structure and function. Objective We used CMRI to evaluate cardiac remodeling according to maternal habitus throughout pregnancy and postpartum. Study Design This was a prospective, observational study of nulliparous women aged 18-30 years, without preexisting medical conditions, conducted from October 2012 through December 2014. Women were classified according to prepregnancy body mass index (BMI) as either normal (BMI 18.5-24.9 kg/m 2 ) or overweight (BMI 25-35 kg/m 2 ). All women underwent CMRI during 5 epochs throughout gestation: 12-16 weeks, 26-30 weeks, 32-36 weeks, at delivery, and 3 months' postpartum. Using left ventricular mass (LVM) as a marker of cardiac remodeling, the 2 cohorts were compared. Results There were 14 normal-weight (BMI 22.2 ± 1.3) and 9 overweight (BMI 29.1 ± 2.0) women who participated in the study. Beginning at 26-30 weeks and continuing to delivery, LVM of both normal-weight and overweight women was significantly increased compared with the respective first-trimester studies for each cohort ( P Conclusion There is substantial cardiac remodeling during pregnancy with significant increases in LVM that are proportional to maternal size. Left ventricular geometric remodeling was concentric in both normal-weight and overweight women. All changes in cardiac remodeling resolved by 3 months' postpartum.
Anionic Polymerization of Vinyl Monomers

Abstract Addition polymerizations involving soluble organometallic species have received intensive attention in recent years with special reference to the type of counterion and solvent. An anionic mechanism is proposed for those systems where there is good reason to assume that the metal is strongly electropositive relative to the carbon (or other) atom at the tip of the growing chain. Hence, the metal, e.g. lithium, becomes a cation either in the free state or coupled with the growing carbanion. Under the appropriate experimental conditions, spontaneous termination is avoidable in many of those systems when one of the metals of Group I is used as the counterion. The alkali metals sodium and potassium were revealed to be polymerization initiators of isoprene in the disclosures of Matthews and Strange in 1910 and Harries in 1911. The first unambiguous report of the use of lithium in reactions with diolefins appears to be that of Ziegler and coworkers in 1934. Their work consisted of an investigation of th...
Mixed-Signal Implementation Strategies for High Performance Clock and Data Recovery Circuits

In implementing high performance clock and data recovery (CDR) circuits, there is an interesting tradeoff offered between analog and digital circuit implementations. Analog circuits provide a relatively low power and low area approach to performing high speed, continuous-time processing of signals, but lack the ability to perform sophisticated processing tasks that demand high accuracy and repeatability. In contrast, digital circuits readily provide the ability to perform complex processing tasks with high repeatability, but can be costly in terms of power and area when high resolution is required at high speeds. A mixed-signal approach to implementation combines both analog and digital circuits (i.e., a hybrid approach) such that each performs tasks best suited to their strengths in order to accomplish the desired functionality.
Parallel Primitives-Based Spatial Join of Geospatial Data on GPGPUs

Modern GPU architectures closely resemble supercomputers. Commodity GPUs that have already been integrated with personal and cluster computers can be used to boost the performance of spatial databases and GIS. In this study, we report our preliminary work on designing and implementing a spatial join algorithm on GPUs by using generic parallel primitives that have been well understood and efficiently implemented in many parallel libraries. In addition to help understand the inherent data parallelisms in spatial join operations, our experiments have shown that the reference implementation, which represents a tradeoff between code efficiency and code complexity, is able to achieve a 6.7× speedup when compared to an optimized CPU serial implementation. The result is encouraging in the sense that native implementation of spatial joins directly on top of GPU accelerators can potentially achieve much higher speedups for spatial joins which are fundamental to spatial databases and vector GIS. The implementations of parallel spatial algorithms on top of generic parallel primitives can be an important first step towards designing and developing high-performance spatial-specific parallel primitives to make it easier to build parallel spatial databases and GIS.
Electrostatic Converter Test Results

A sequence of prototype devices has been designed and fabricated. The previous chapter explained the essential elements of the fabrication processes used. This chapter is dedicated to reporting fabrication and testing results.
Identification of Microseismic Attributes Through Spectral Analysis

Author(s): Nava, MJ; Rector, JW; Zhang, Z | Abstract: Copyright 2015, Unconventional Resources Technology Conference. The canonical monitoring geometry for hydraulic fracturing processes consists of a horizontal treatment well and a roughly parallel observation well that contains an array of acoustic sensors. This is a cost-effective method because it allows for relatively high-resolution monitoring with a low number of cross-well geophones. However, there is a significant drawback with this type of monitoring technique. Specifically, moment tensor inversion suffers based on a small solid angle, which is due to limited aperture. While the current literature suggests that additional monitoring wells are necessary to gain a better understanding of microseismic attributes, that solution is accompanied by a much higher cost. Another proposed solution to this problem is through the use of large surface monitoring arrays; however, what is gained in azimuthal coverage is often lost due to the introduction of significant noise. In an effort to minimize overall cost and improve the understanding of microseismic source mechanisms with this basic monitoring geometry, we propose a new approach that relies primarily on spectral analysis. Though careful exploration in the frequency domain, specific parameters like center frequency and bandwidth, combined with knowledge of pumping parameters, lead to inferences regarding microseismic source mechanisms that would be otherwise unavailable. The benefits of this approach are significant due to the fact that an understanding of microseismic source mechanisms can lead to a greater awareness of new fractures and associated permeability of the fracture network. Moreover, circumventing the limitations accompanied by the traditional survey geometry due to limited aperture while minimizing overall cost can have a significant impact on the viability of new hydraulic fracturing processes.