cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Calcium fluxes involved in control of cardiac myocyte contraction.

This Review is part of a thematic series on Calcium Cycling in Cardiovascular Cells , which includes the following articles: Ca2+ Release Mechanisms, Ca2+ Sparks, and Local Control of Excitation-Contraction Coupling in Normal Heart Muscle Interaction Between Ca2+ and H+ and Functional Consequences in Vascular Smooth Muscle Cardiac Intracellular Calcium Release Channels: Role in Heart Failure Calcium Fluxes Involved in Control of Cardiac Myocyte Contraction C. William Balke, Guest Editor Intracellular Ca2+ is the central regulator of cardiac contractility. Moreover, it is becoming increasingly apparent that alterations in myocyte Ca2+ regulation may be critically important in both the mechanical dysfunction and arrhythmogenesis associated with congestive heart failure.1 2 Thus, it is imperative to have a clear and relatively quantitative understanding of how cellular Ca2+ levels are regulated during the normal contraction-relaxation cycle. The scope and relevant references in this field are far too large for this format, so my focus here is narrower and more personal than elsewhere.3 4 5 Figure 1A⇓ shows the key pathways involved in myocyte Ca2+ transport. During the cardiac action potential (AP) L-type Ca2+ channels are activated and Ca2+ enters the cell via Ca2+ current ( I Ca) and also a much smaller amount enters via Na+-Ca2+ exchange (NCX). Ca2+ influx triggers Ca2+ release from the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) and, to some extent, can also contribute to activation of the myofilaments directly. The Ca2+ entry plus the amount released from the SR via Ca2+-induced Ca2+ release (CICR) raises cytosolic free [Ca2+] ([Ca2+]i), causing Ca2+ binding to multiple cytosolic Ca2+ buffers. One of the most functionally important cytosolic Ca2+ buffers is the thin-filament protein troponin C …
Relaxation and diffusion of perfluorocarbon gas mixtures with oxygen for lung MRI.

Abstract We report measurements of free diffusivity D 0 and relaxation times T 1 and T 2 for pure C 2 F 6 and C 3 F 8 and their mixtures with oxygen. A simplified relaxation theory is presented and used to fit the data. The results enable spatially localized relaxation time measurements to determine the local gas concentration in lung MR images, so the free diffusivity D 0 is then known. Comparison of the measured diffusion to D 0 will express the extent of diffusion restriction and allow the local surface-to-volume ratio to be found.
Frequency of homozygous deletion at p16/CDKN2 in primary human tumours

Many tumour types have been reported to have deletion of 9p21 (refs 1-6). A candidate target suppressor gene, p16 (p16INK4a/MTS-1/CDKN2), was recently identified within the commonly deleted region in tumour cell lines. An increasing and sometimes conflicting body of data has accumulated regarding the frequency of homozygous deletion and the importance of p16 in primary tumours. We tested 545 primary tumours by microsatellite analysis with existing and newly cloned markers around the p16 locus. We have now found that small homozygous deletions represent the predominant mechanism of inactivation at 9p21 in bladder tumours and are present in other tumour types, including breast and prostate cancer. Moreover, fine mapping of these deletions implicates a 170 kb minimal region that includes p16 and excludes p15.
Health Care for Children and Youth in the United States: Annual Report on Patterns of Coverage, Utilization, Quality, and Expenditures by a County Level of Urban Influence

Objective To examine child and hospital demographics and children's health care coverage, use, expenditures, and quality by a county-level measure of urban influence. Methods Two national health care databases serve as the sources of data for this report: the 2002 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) and the 2002 Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) and State Inpatient Databases (SID) from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP). In both data sets, county urbanicity is defined by use of a collapsed version of the 2003 Urban Influence Codes, to distinguish among children residing in and hospitals located in large metropolitan (metro) counties, small metro counties, micropolitan counties, and noncore counties. Results Demographics. In large metro counties, greater percentages of the child population are Hispanic or black non-Hispanic than in small metro, micropolitan, and noncore counties; in micropolitan and noncore counties, higher proportions of children are below 200% of the federal poverty level than in large metro and small metro counties. Noncore areas have a greater percentage of children in fair or poor health compared with those in small metro and micropolitan counties. Most hospitals are located in large and small metro areas, and large metro areas have a higher proportion of teaching hospitals compared with other areas. Health care. In general, there were no overall differences by place of residence in the proportion of children with and without insurance, although differences emerged in subpopulations within Urban Influence Code types. Hispanic children residing in large metro counties were more likely to be uninsured than those in small metro counties. Overall, the proportion of children with at least one dental visit was larger in small metro areas compared with both large metro and noncore areas. The proportion of children with medicines prescribed was generally lower in large metro areas compared with all other areas both overall and among subpopulations of children. Children in noncore areas were more likely to have a hospital inpatient stay and any emergency department use compared with children in large metro areas. Children in large metro counties had longer average inpatient stays and a higher hospital inpatient charge per day compared with children in all other counties. Although most hospitalizations for children from large metro areas occurred in large metro areas, over half of hospitalizations for noncore children occurred outside of noncore counties. Further, children from noncore counties appear to be hospitalized for ambulatory sensitive conditions more than children from all other areas. Conclusions County-level data analyses performed using a collapsed version of the Urban Influence Codes with MEPS and HCUP data shed additional light on the health care patterns for children that were not previously evident when only the dichotomous metropolitan/nonmetropolitan geographic schema was used.
Lack of induction of O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase in mammalian cells treated with N-methyl-N' -nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine

A synthetic DNA substrate containing O/sup 6/-methyl(8-/sup 3/H)-guanine was used to assay demethylation of the premutagenic base by O/sup 6/-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase in extracts of HeLa cells, Chinese hamster ovary cells and normal rat kidney cells which had been treated with multiple doses of N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG). No induction of methyltransferase activity was observed in any of the cell lines tested. Constitutive levels of methyltransferase in cell lines proficient (Mex/sup +/) in O/sup 6/-methylguanine repair were decreased in a dose-dependent fashion by either single or multiple treatments with MNNG over a broad range of dose levels. Recovery of constitutive levels of activity required 24- to 48-h incubation periods. Repair deficient (Mex/sup -/) cell lines lacked both constitutive and inducible methyltransferase activity. 42 references, 4 figures, 1 table.
Alternative mating strategies in a desert grasshopper: evidence of density-dependence

Abstract Field observations revealed that, on a given day, male mating behaviour in a population of the grasshopper Ligurotettix coquilletti ranged from little or no stridulation (inactive) to relatively persistent singing (active signalling). Inactive males were usually located in the territories of active signallers. Actively signalling male achieved more matings, and also more frequently approached and mounted females in incidents terminating in the male departing the female without copulating. Individuals switched between inactive and actively-signalling behaviour during their adult lives, and males that were usually active signallers achieved greater lifetime mating success. Thus, we obtained no evidence to support the hypothesis that variation in mating behaviour was maintained by negative frequency-dependent selection. By comparing the behaviour of males in two field plots maintained at different population densities, however, we found that high density was directly related to a higher incidence of inactive behaviour. Males perched on creosote (Larrea tridentata) bushes (their host plant), and certain bushes. Mating behaviour was independent of body size and, while young (
Who Should I Blame? Effects of Autonomy and Transparency on Attributions in Human-Robot Interaction

As autonomous robots collaborate with people on tasks, the questions "who deserves credit?" and "who is to blame?" are no longer simple. Based on insights from an observational study of a delivery robot in a hospital, this paper deals with how robotic autonomy and transparency affect the attribution of credit and blame. In the study, we conducted a 2times2 experiment to test the effects of autonomy and transparency on attributions. We found that when a robot is more autonomous, people attribute more credit and blame to the robot and less toward themselves and other participants. When the robot explains its behavior (e.g. is transparent), people blame other participants (but not the robot) less. Finally, transparency has a greater effect in decreasing the attribution of blame when the robot is more autonomous
The Liber feudorum maior of the counts of Barcelona: the cartulary as an expression of power

The Liber feudorum maior, the late-twelfth-century cartulary of the counts of Barcelona, is at once one of the earliest surviving lay cartularies and a rare example of an illuminated cartulary. Although much of the original has been lost, its modern editor was able to use surviving single-sheet documents and early registers to reconstruct its contents: over nine hundred individual records in two volumes. Drawing on this reconstruction, this article considers the date of the cartulary, its composition, its organization, and its functions. For each of these questions the inclusion and placement of many blank folios in the original two volumes prove significant. Considered together, the organization of the cartulary and its distinctive pictorial programme, which includes some of the earliest depictions of the ceremony of homage in Europe, reveal the Liber feudorum maior as not simply an administrative tool, but as a written expression of power.
Generation and manipulation of H-Anim CAESAR scan bodies

In this paper we present a procedure to create animated human models, compliant with the H-Anim standard, from 3D CAESAR scan bodies, which were captured using a whole body scan device. We also present a VRML prototype of an "Animated CAESAR Viewer" to view and manipulate the generated CAESAR body animations interactively on the Web. The animated body model follows the H-Anim skinned body geometry specification. The vertex blending method has been used for smoother skin deformations. The model can be integrated with motion capture data. Although the process to generate an H-Anim body involves several different techniques, the discussion is focused on the methods of creating segments and assigning vertex weights. The Viewer provides the functions for a user to explore the components of the digital human model, to adjust the joint locations, to make body postures with a direct kinematics method, and control the animation using VCR-like controls. The aim of the Viewer is to help digital human modelers create more realistic postures and motion sequences intuitively.
ANISOTROPIC MEMBRANE TRANSPORT

Membranes consisting of two layers, one of which has a concentration-dependent permeability, may show anisotropic fluxes. In other words, the flux under a given concentration difference has a different magnitude if the direction of the concentration difference is reversed but its magnitude is unchanged. This paper develops a simple theory of this effect and verifies aspects of this theory experimentally.
Phenolics and lipid-soluble antioxidants in fruit cuticle of apples and their antioxidant activities in model systems

Abstract Phenolics were extracted from fruit cuticles of ‘Delicious’, ‘Golden Delicious’, ‘Empire’ and ‘Cortland’ apples, using either cuticular wax scraped from fruit peel or enzyme-isolated cuticles. The concentrations of free phenolics in fruit cuticle ranged from 8 to 45 μg g −1 and bound phenolics ranged from 50 to 110 μg g −1 in these cultivars. Free cuticular phenolic concentrations in the four cultivars were in the order: ‘Golden Delicious’ > ‘Delicious’ > ‘Empire’ > ‘Cortland’. In a linoleate emulsion (oil-in-water) system, diphenylamine (DPA, lipophilic) displayed higher antioxidant activity than methanol-extracted cuticular phenolics (hydrophilic). Antioxidant activity of quercetin (flavonoids) was higher than that of gallic acids (phenolic acids). Antioxidant activity of free phenolics in fruit cuticle was equivalent to that of quercetin while bound phenolics, when released by chemical methods, displayed activity similar to that of gallic acid. In an α-farnesene-hexane (bulk oil) system, however, antioxidant activities of methanol-extracted cuticular phenolics were higher than that of DPA. Lipid-soluble antioxidants (LSAs) from cuticle displayed higher activity in the linoleate emulsion system than in α-farnesene-hexane system. Only about 10–15% of the total LSA activity in fruit peel was detected in isolated fruit cuticle. Among the four cultivars, LSA activity in epidermal and hypodermal cells was similar in ‘Golden Delicious’, ‘Empire’ and ‘Cortland’ apples, while ‘Delicious’ had lower activity. There was no clear correlation between LSA activity and scald resistance among the four cultivars. However, the total antioxidant activities (activity of free phenolics in cuticle plus activity of LSAs in fruit peel) of the four cultivars were in the order: ‘Golden Delicious’ > ‘Empire’ > ‘Delicious’ > ‘Cortland’, which was similar to their scald resistance potentials.
Modern nonlinear regression methods

Abstract Several nonparametric nonlinear regression models are discussed and compared. Instead of forcing a predefined analytical form on the data, these methods approximate the underlying nonlinear function using smoothers or splines on the training data set. The performances of these methods are compared in a Monte Carlo simulation study and illustrated on a data set from food chemistry.
Planar micro sensors for in vivo myocardial pH measurements.

Abstract Potentiometric responses of microelectronically fabricated planar pH sensors based on both TDDA or ETH 5294 proton neutral carriers, in aminated PVC matrix, were evaluated with respect to main analytical parameters (linear ranges, slopes, reproducibility of potential measurements, potential drift and membrane resistance). In order to increase the electrode life time, increased amounts of membrane material were applied on the Ag/AgCl-poly-HEMA active spots of the polyimide substrate. The electrodes were implanted into an in situ porcine beating heart preparation at a midmyocardial depth in order to monitor H+ concentration changes during the course of coronary artery occlusion.
Profiles of nursing home residents with traumatic brain injury using the Minimum Data Set

Objective : To present comprehensive profiles of nursing home residents with TBI at admission. Methods : Over 12 300 assessments from the Minimum Data Set were analysed to create these profiles. Results : Residents with TBI were overwhelmingly male and averaged 53.1 years of age at admission, with almost 30% being 40 years or younger. They tended to have substantial physical disability and severe cognitive impairment at admission. Compared to other residents at admission, residents with TBI tended to receive more treatments and rehabilitation therapies. Conclusion : Caring for residents with TBI presents major challenges for the staff in the traditional nursing home.
Internet as freedom – does the internet enhance the freedoms people enjoy?

This study evaluates the capacity of the Internet to enhance development in emerging regions through Sen's freedom perspective. The paper begins with a qualitative evaluation of the Internet's potential as a freedom enhancer through examples and literature study. It then presents a quantitative evaluation based on web access logs obtained from the AirJaldi network in rural India. We categorize the data based on Sen's freedoms to contribute an information and communication technology-freedom taxonomy and note the challenges in doing so. The usage logs indicate that indeed users may have experienced enhancement in all of Sen's freedom categories; yet our qualitative evaluation suggests there is much unexploited potential. We conclude that it is important to look at the Internet-based Information and Communication Technologies for Development ICTD projects through Sen's freedom lens and call for such projects to be evaluated based on these broad freedom goals rather than on focused development goals.
Longitudinal functional performance among children with cochlear implants and disabilities: A prospective study using the Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory

Abstract Objective Functional outcomes are important in children with cochlear implants (CI) and additional disabilities as studies on auditory skill and speech/language development may not identify functional benefits from implantation. This study sought to measure functional performance skills of young children with developmental disabilities post-CI. Methods Eight children with cognitive disabilities undergoing cochlear implantation were enrolled in a prospective study of language and functional abilities; 6 with 1 year follow-up were included in the analysis. Functional performance was measured using Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory (PEDI), providing standardized (mean: 50) and scaled scores (range: 0–100) of functional domains: Self-Care, Mobility and Social Function. The PEDI was administered pre-implant, 6 and 12 months post-implantation along with language testing at the same intervals. Results All children had cognitive disability; 5 also had motor delay. The ages at CI ranged from 13.8 to 134 months. For functional abilities, children did not make significant changes in domain-specific standard scores over 1 year. Children made progress in scaled scores by 1-year post-implant. The largest increase for all domains occurred in the first 6 months (7–11.5 point increase). For language abilities, children made a median 5.5-month increase in receptive language age (p = 0.06) and 5-month increase in expressive language age (p = 0.03) in the first year post-CI with no change in language quotients. Receptive language level was significantly (p Conclusions This is the first study to measure daily functional abilities in children with implants and disabilities using a standardized tool. Although our small group of complex children did not have an increase in standard scores (gap-closing trajectories), they made progress in skill development on scaled scores. Receptive language appears to play a key role in social functioning in this population. Functional assessments are informative for treatment planning and identifying specific areas to target intervention.
Body Image among Ariaal Men from Northern Kenya

To test attitudes toward male body image in a society with relatively little media exposure, the authors surveyed 53 men, ages 20-35, among the Ariaal, pastoral nomads of northern Kenya. Measures of body image were obtained using a somatomorphic matrix. Height, weight, and percentage of body fat based on bioelectric impedance were also obtained. Results indicate that men exhibit very little discrepancy between what they perceive as the degree of muscularity preferred by women and that of the average man (.21 kg/m2). Comparison with findings from the United States and Western Europe indicates that Ariaal men show significantly less discrepancy between their judgment of women’s preference for muscularity and the muscularity of the average man. These results support a role for media exposure in attitudes about male body image.
The Marketing Ethics Course Current State and Future Directions

As the field of business ethics has evolved, the marketing domain has been a natural context for and recipient of much ethical consideration. One reason for this might be that many of the critical issues facing modern businesses, such as sustainability and social responsibility, can be considered marketing ethics issues (Murphy, 2010). Marketing has been a significant contributor to applied ethics from the early days of business ethics research. Several of the original ethical decision making models emerged from marketing scholarship, such as the Ferrell-Gresham (1985) and the Hunt-Vitell (1986) frameworks, and they remain among the most highly-cited studies in the marketing ethics literature. Recent literature reviews confirm that issues of marketing ethics continue to grow in importance to the marketing profession (Schlegelmilch & Oberseder, 2010).
A Behavioral Analysis of the Dynamics of Social Exchange in the Dyad

We report the results of three experimental investigations of dyadic social exchange based on principles of operant conditioning. This behavioral approach contrasts with the rational choice approach characteristic of most theory and research on social exchange. The experiments investigate the effects of different histories of reinforcement on the establishment, maintenance, disruption, and reestablishment of social exchange when the two persons do not have alternative relations that would affect their interaction. The first experiment supports our proposition that social exchange must be established through individual reinforcement contingencies and then can be maintained through social contingencies. The second experiment clarifies a problem in learning complex discriminations in the first. The third experiment studies the effects of disrupting social exchange on reestablishment under different reinforcement and information conditions. We discuss the implications for future experimental investigations of the research paradigm. In recent years some scholars-for example, Ritzer, Lynch, Friedrichs, and Tarter-have seen behavioral theory as a promising development in sociology. In the work of Homans and Emerson, linking operant-based research with exchange theory, exciting possibilities emerged. Yet excepting the work of Burgess and Nielsen, and the papers in Hamblin and Kunkel's recent book, social exchange theory has seldom been put to the test in empirical investigations based on behavioral principles. We report here the results of three experiments investigating several histories of reinforcement that affect the course of social exchange. Exploiting principles of operant conditioning, we analyze the different conditions under which social exchange may be established, maintained, disrupted, and reestablished. Owing to our strict application of operant concepts and methods, this research differs from most empirical applications of social exchange; ours is a behavioral, rather than a rational choice, approach.
Reducing arbitrage risk by fuzzy regression based prediction of exchange rates for composite currencies

Some financial instruments are denominated in several currencies rather than a single currency. This increases the volatility in exchange rates as well as the uncertainty in predictability. Therefore, fuzzy axiomatic structure is implemented to increase both mathematical tractability and physical realism of the problem for composite currency. We used the theoretical development from our earlier work on fuzzy regression analysis and utilized non-symmetric fuzzy coefficients to predict exchange rate for European Currency Unite (ECU). The significance of the research is in its ability to break newer grounds in the uncertain economic environment. The simulation results highlight both the timeliness and the efficiency of the proposed model.
What Does ‘Depth’ Mean in Mathematics?

Thispaperexploresdifferentinterpretationsoftheword‘deep’asitisusedbymathematicians,withalargenumberofexamplesillustratingvariouscriteriafordepth.Mostof the examples are theorems with ‘historical depth’, in the sense that many generations of mathematicians contributed to their proof. Some also have ‘foundational depth’, in the sense that they support large mathematical theories. Finally, concepts from mathematicallogicsuggestthatitmaybepossibletoordercertaintheoremsorproblemsaccording to‘logical depth’.
Incorporation of prior knowledge of chip shapes in blind multiuser detection for DS-CDMA communication

In this paper we present a new method of compensating for complex multipath channel fading in blind multiuser detection for DS-CDMA communication. This compensation allows for the use of different chip pulse shapes. The compensation is based on the incorporation of priors derived from the FFT of the pulse shape. The system employs detectors that incorporate methods of independent component analysis (ICA), subspace estimation of channel noise, and Hopfield type neural networks. Several chip pulse shapes are tested, including the cosine, raised cosine, and the duobinary shapes, which are the pulse shapes that provide superior performance with more traditional detectors. They do not retain this superior performance when used with the uncompensated ICA detectors operating in a multipath fading channel environment. When compensated, the ICA neural network detectors displayed significantly better bit error rate performance than traditional detectors and the uncompensated ICA detectors.
Protective effects of antioxidant medications on limb ischemia reperfusion injury.

Background N-acetylcysteine, β-glucan, and coenzyme Q 10 were shown to have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects on reperfusion injury. The aim of our study was to determine and evaluate the effects of these agents on ischemia reperfusion injury of limb. Material and method Forty-four New Zealand white rabbits, all female, weighing between 2.3 to 4.2 (mean 3.8) kg, were used in the study. Four study groups were arranged of 11 animals each, by randomization. The first group was the control group (Group C), the other groups were the Group Q, which was medicated with coenzyme Q10, the Group βG, which was medicated with β-glucan, and the Group N, medicated with N-acetylcysteine. After baseline measurements, for the ischemia-reperfusion experiments, common iliac artery was clamped and collateral flow was occluded by a rubber arterial tourniquet wrapped around the thigh at the proximal third of the leg. After 60 min of transient ischemic period, the limb was perfused for 180 min. After perfusion, biopsy was taken from the adductor magnus muscle. Second blood sampling was done after reperfusion period. Blood and tissue analysis were done and evaluated statistically. Results Baseline and post-reperfusion levels of glutathione peroxidase (GPx), super oxide dismutase (SOD), malonyldialdehyde (MDA), and nitric oxide (NO) changed significantly. While MDA levels increased in the control group, it decreased in the other study groups. The increase in GPx and SOD levels were significant in all groups except the control group. Levels of NO were found to have decreased in the control group, whereas it had increased in the other groups. Conclusion Antioxidant medication may help lowering limb ischemia reperfusion injury. All mentioned medications in our study are shown to be able to have an effective role for preventing ischemia reperfusion injury to some extent through their antioxidant properties.
Staggered interleaving and iterative errors- and-erasures decoding for frequency-hop packet radio

Information about the reliabilities; of the received symbols is very beneficial in frequency-hop communication systems. This information, known as side information, can be used to erase unreliable symbols at the input to an errors-and-erasures decoder. For slow-frequency-hop systems it is common that special redundant symbols, referred to as side-information symbols, are included in each dwell interval, and the demodulation of these symbols provides the side information. The corresponding decrease in the number of message symbols that can be sent in each dwell interval makes it desirable to develop alternative methods that do not require side-information symbols. In this paper, one such alternative is proposed, and its performance is evaluated for channels with partial-band interference. It is shown that staggered interleaving of Reed-Solomon code words and iterative errors-and-erasures decoding facilitates the erasure of unreliable symbols without the need for side-information symbols. The performance of this method is compared with the performance of systems that employ standard block interleaving and errors-only decoding or errors-and-erasures decoding with side information obtained from test symbols.
Clustering algorithms for content-based publication-subscription systems

We consider efficient communication schemes based on both network-supported and application-level multicast techniques for content-based publication-subscription systems. We show that the communication costs depend heavily on the network configurations, distribution of publications and subscriptions. We devise new algorithms and adapt existing partitional data clustering algorithms. These algorithms can be used to determine multicast groups with as much commonality as possible, based on the totality of subscribers' interests. They perform well in the context of highly heterogeneous subscriptions, and they also scale well. An efficiency of 60% to 80% with respect to the ideal solution can be achieved with a small number of multicast groups (less than 100 in our experiments). Some of these same concepts can be applied to match publications to subscribers in real-time, and also to determine dynamically whether to unicast, multicast or broadcast information about the events over the network to the matched subscribers. We demonstrate the quality of our algorithms via simulation experiments.
Probabilistic packet marking for large-scale IP traceback

This paper presents an approach to IP traceback based on the probabilistic packet marking paradigm. Our approach, which we call randomize-and-link, uses large checksum cords to ldquolinkrdquo message fragments in a way that is highly scalable, for the checksums serve both as associative addresses and data integrity verifiers. The main advantage of these checksum cords is that they spread the addresses of possible router messages across a spectrum that is too large for the attacker to easily create messages that collide with legitimate messages.
Tree‐shrub interactions in a subtropical savanna parkland: competition or facilitation?

Prosopis glandulosa var. glandulosa has played a central role in the encroachment of woody plants in southern Texas, grasslands and savannas by acting as a nurse plant for various shrubs that establish in its understory. To test for contin- ued facilitation of established understory shrubs by Prosopis and to determine if established shrubs compete with the Prosopis nucleus, selective removal experiments were conducted and monitored over a 2 - 5 yr period. Short-term (1 - 3 days) and long-term (2 yr) growth and physiological activities (midday net photosynthesis and leaf/shoot water potential) of two com- mon understory shrubs, Zanthoxylum fagara and Berberis trifoliolata, growing with Prosopis, were generally comparable to those of individuals occurring in clusters where Prosopis was removed. Shrubs growing with an intact Prosopis occasionally showed significantly higher leaf-(N) and pre-dawn water potentials than those in clusters lacking a live Prosopis, espe- cially under drought conditions; however, these differences did not translate into greater midday leaf gas exchange or shoot growth. By comparison, removal of understory shrubs elicited large increases in Prosopis net photosynthesis, annual trunk growth in each of the 5 yr monitored, and seed pod production in three of the four years monitored. Seven of 26 Prosopis plants in experimental clusters with an intact understory died over a 5-yr period, compared to only two of the 26 plants in clusters with the cleared understory. Results indicate that (1) the founding overstory Prosopis plant may continue to facilitate understory shrubs following their establishment, but these beneficial effects appear to be small and transitory, and (2) the understory shrubs have a pronounced negative effect on Prosopis, such that competi- tion between overstory and understory woody plants is strongly asymmetrical. These findings suggest that understory shrubs will likely persist despite changes in microclimate and soils (potentially) that occur after the Prosopis plant, which facili- tated their ingress or establishment, has died. Soil resource depletion by shallow-rooted understory shrubs appears to be a primary factor contributing to the demise of the deeply rooted, overstory Prosopis plants, especially on upland sites with duplex soils where below-ground competition is accentuated.
Digital beamforming receiver technology

A recent digital beamforming (DBF) receiver module effort is described. Each individual receiver module is divided into four mechanical packages. The element submodule is in stripline and contains the radiating element, C-band filtering, and calibration signal coupling functions. The RF submodule performs two downconversions and, like the element submodule, must fit into a one-half wavelength element spacing. The IF submodule contains a SAW filter for setting the signal bandwidth and a final downconversion to a low intermediate frequency (IF). The digital submodule contains the A/D converter for digitizing the downconverted RF information. The receivers considered represent the state-of-the-art in readily producible receiver modules; the components have been integrated and packaged to reduce module size for a relatively high-performance radar receiver. The quantity of receiver modules built dictated that tweaking to obtain desired performance be minimized. There was a tradeoff between tactical performance, prototype performance, and cost that resulted in the decision to implement the 400-kHz signal bandwidth. >
The effect of a pre-anesthetic infusion of amino acids on body temperature, venous blood pH, glucose, creatinine, and lactate of healthy dogs during anesthesia

Abstract Objective To evaluate the effect of preanesthetic, intravenous (IV) amino acids on body temperature of anesthetized healthy dogs. Study design Randomized, experimental, crossover study. Animals Eight mixed-breed dogs approximately 2 years of age weighing 20.7 ± 2.1 kg. Methods Dogs received 10% amino acid solution (AA) or 0.9% saline (SA) IV at 5 mL kg −1 over 60 minutes. Body temperature (BT) was recorded at 5 minute intervals during infusions. Dogs were then anesthetized with sevoflurane for 90 minutes. BT was recorded at 5 minute intervals during anesthesia. Jugular blood samples were analyzed for pH, glucose, creatinine, and lactate concentrations at baseline, after infusion, after anesthesia and after 24 hours. Results BT at conclusion of infusion decreased -0.34 ± 0.42 °C in group AA and -0.40 ± 0.38 °C in group SA and was not different between groups ( p = 0.072). BT decreased 2.72 ± 0.37 °C in group AA and 2.88 ± 0.26 °C in group SA after anesthesia and was different between groups ( p p p Conclusions and clinical relevance In healthy dogs, preanesthetic IV infusion of amino acids attenuated heat loss compared to controls, however, the amount attenuated may not be clinically useful. Further studies are warranted to determine if nutrient-induced thermogenesis is beneficial to dogs undergoing anesthesia.
Sensor integration and analysis for visual identification of environmental patterns

Sensor data integration is crucial for the analysis and identification of environmental patterns. In this research project, publicly available datasets of environmental sensor data are integrated with Google Earth. Information on environmental patterns is identified, analyzed, and presented on the Web in response to user queries. This prototype demonstrates how sensor data can be integrated with Google Earth to enable the geographic and temporal context display of environmental data, with an interactive format, for users to analyze and identify environmental patterns in real-time.
Point-counterpoint: sinusitis.

1. David Nash, MD* 1. 2. *Assistant Professor of Pediatrics Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, PA A reader writes, “Would the authors change their recommendations (Sinusitis. Pediatr Rev . 2001;22:111–117) in terms of the new data published by Garbutt et al in the April 2001 issue of Pediatrics ?” Previous work has clearly demonstrated that the sinuses can become infected with bacteria and that antimicrobial therapy increases both the rate and number of patients cured.((1))((2)) These studies have used some combination of clinical history, radiograph imaging, and sinus aspiration to diagnose acute bacterial sinusitis. The impracticality of sinus aspiration combined with the uncertainty associated with the interpretation of radiographic images of the sinuses has led to the use of clinical criteria to diagnose acute bacterial sinusitis. In fact, several national organizations recently developed recommendations for diagnosing this condition exclusively by clinical criteria.((3))((4))((5)) The Garbutt article is the first to examine the exclusive use of clinical criteria to identify patients who have acute sinusitis and to determine …
New instrumentation for automated tinnitus psychoacoustic assessment.

Conclusion: Although tinnitus is a major health problem, techniques to quantify its perceptual aspects are not standardized. This study represents a key step in our efforts to develop clinical methodology to accurately and reliably quantify the sensation of tinnitus, using a uniform method for obtaining a battery of tinnitus measures. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the performance of the automated system, which was redesigned to reduce time of testing and to add new testing capabilities. The primary difference in function was the use of a ‘knob’ device that enabled patient control of auditory stimuli. The new tests included assessment of minimum masking level (MML) and residual inhibition (RI). Materials and methods: As with previous iterations of the system, a computer program ran all testing and subjects read instructions and provided responses via a computer touch-screen. Three separate studies were conducted. Study 1 evaluated within- and between-session test-retest response rel...
Freezing Time Prediction: An Enthalpy-Based Approach

Equations were developed for prediction of freezing times of foods of slab geometry, for three different boundary conditions, using a method of solving for enthalpy per unit volume instead of temperature. Experimental verification was performed for the operation with a convective heat transfer boundary condition, using ice cream and green peas in a granular packed bed as test materials. Results indicate good prediction of freezing times over a range of conditions. Results of thawing tests are less satisfactory if the ambient temperature lies in the zone of rapidly changing food properties. A comparison with literature predictions is presented.
Imaging spectroscopy for desertification studies: comparing AVIRIS and EO-1 Hyperion in Argentina drylands

Arid and semiarid ("dryland") regions are complex mosaics of vegetation cover, structure, and phenology. Few multispectral remote sensing approaches have quantitatively resolved the spatial complexity of photosynthetic vegetation (PV), nonphotosynthetic vegetation (NPV), and bare soil in drylands. In combination, these surface properties provide insight to land degradation and desertification known to be occurring in many drylands worldwide. Given sufficient spatial resolution and sensor performance, imaging spectroscopy provides this information using reflectance measurements over the 0.4-2.5-/spl mu/m region. We tested and compared the Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) and the spaceborne Earth Observing 1 Hyperion imaging spectrometer for measuring PV, NPV, and bare soil fractional cover in the Monte Desert biome of Central Argentina. A probabilistic spectral mixture model was used to decompose image pixels into subpixel surface constituents using a spectral endmember bundling approach. AVIRIS (4.5-m pixels) and Hyperion (30-m pixels) data were collected over a 763-km/sup 2/ region containing the Nacunan Man-and-Biosphere Reserve and surrounding unprotected areas. The AVIRIS data, combined with the mixture modeling, provided highly accurate estimates of PV, NPV, and bare soil in comparison with field measurements (0.83<r/sup 2/<0.86). Hyperion provided accurate estimates of PV (r/sup 2/=0.68) due to good red-edge (0.69-0.71 /spl mu/m) performance, but NPV and bare soil estimates were accurate only when cover values exceeded /spl sim/30% (r/sup 2/=0.39-0.40). Lower NPV and soil cover accuracies from Hyperion were due to lower S/N performance in the shortwave-infrared (2.0-2.4 /spl mu/m) region. Convolving the AVIRIS reflectance data to 30-m pixel size showed that apparent accuracies decrease by 20% due to field/remote sensing colocation errors. AVIRIS 30-m results for PV were statistically similar to Hyperion 30-m results.
Creative Practice and Critical Reflection: Productive Science in Design Research

Introduction Designers and design researchers have struggled for many years to find useful models for their work. Researchers in the Design Methods Movement, for example, found that seeking a new “scientific” basis for designing—one that would lead to a methodology of design practice, as well as a framework for research—was important. Whether this effort was successful is open to debate because of conflicts among the various proposals, leaving the issue open for ongoing exploration. As an alternative to approaches such as design science, dialectic, or rhetoric, which have given intellectual strength and direction to research and creative projects, we focus on a model and a strategy that provides a different perspective on the struggle of a practicing designer and artist as he or she seeks to develop creative work. The strategy is called productive science, or poetics.1 There are three central features of the strategy: the identification of the essential functional elements of design, the exploration of these elements with an appropriate degree of precision, and the integration of these functional elements in design and artistic practice. The functional elements include the materials of embodiment, the manner or technique of execution, the form as a unifying structure or idea, and purpose as the ultimate goal of the work. In turn, the exploration of these elements is the process of designing, divided into phases or stages, such as finding a meaningful problem, doing background research, finding creative ideas, developing those ideas in the process of creation and iteration, and finally, synthesizing a work that affects and that has emotional integrity. Finally, the integration of the functional elements of design in practice is the creation of a work with compelling correctness of expression—both in achieving a practical purpose and in bringing appropriate emotional force to the solution. This brief summary points toward the creative activity studied in productive science. But a further consideration requires attention as well: reflection on the implications and principles that 1 This paper was presented in an earlier form at the Design Research Society (DRS) International Conference, Design & Complexity, held July 7–9, 2010 in Montreal, Canada, at the School of Industrial Design, Universite de Montreal.
The effects of gonadal steroids on brain stimulation reward in female rats.

The present study examined possible estrogen and/or progesterone effects on the mesolimbic dopamine (DA) system using brain stimulation reward (BSR). It is well known that BSR with electrical stimulation of the medial forebrain bundle (MFB) depends on the functioning of the mesolimbic DA system. If estrogen affects this system in a manner similar to its effects on the nigrostriatal DA system, reward measures would be expected to vary across the estrous cycle. Cycling female rats were trained to bar press for electrical stimulation to the MFB. Animals were tested at each stage of the estrous cycle, after ovariectomy and 4, 24, 48, 72 and 96 h after hormone replacement with estradiol (10 μg, s.c.), estradiol and progesterone (0.5 mg, s.c.), or oil (s.c.). The rewarding value of the stimulation and the maximum rate of bar pressing increased during estrus, but not during proestrus or metestrus, as compared with diestrus. Hormone replacement had differing effects on reward and motor performance. Motor performance increased 4 and 24 h after estrogen alone and 24 h after estrogen with the addition of progesterone 4 h before testing. The rewarding value of the stimulation increased only 24 h after estrogen together with an injection of progesterone 4 h before testing. These results indicate that gonadal steroids affect the functioning of the mesolimbic DA system.
Low-Resource Semantic Role Labeling

We explore the extent to which highresource manual annotations such as treebanks are necessary for the task of semantic role labeling (SRL). We examine how performance changes without syntactic supervision, comparing both joint and pipelined methods to induce latent syntax. This work highlights a new application of unsupervised grammar induction and demonstrates several approaches to SRL in the absence of supervised syntax. Our best models obtain competitive results in the high-resource setting and state-ofthe-art results in the low resource setting, reaching 72.48% F1 averaged across languages. We release our code for this work along with a larger toolkit for specifying arbitrary graphical structure. 1
Epidemiology of rubella in Quzhou,Zhejiang,2004 to 2012

Objective To understand the epidemiological characteristics of rubella in Quzhou,Zhejiang province,from 2004 to 2012 and provide evidence for the development of rubella elimination strategies and measures.Methods Descriptive epidemiological analysis was conducted on the incidence data of rubella reported through notifiable communicable disease reporting system,public health emergency reporting system and Zhejiang surveillance system of children immunization.Results A total of 2661 rubella cases were reported in Quzhou during this period,the average annual incidence was 11.96 / lakh,The incidence rate of different areas had statistic significance(P 0.05),the incidence peak was around 28 April of a year.The incidence increased in age group 6 years but declined in age group 6 years.The incidence increased in children outside child care settings but declined in students.Up to 42% of the cases had no rubella vaccination history,The protection time of one dose rubella vaccine was shorter than those of two dose rubella vaccine,one dose measles vaccine or one dose MMR vaccine.Conclusion The incidence of rubella remained to be low in Quzhou in recent years.It is essential to strengthen disease surveillance,increase immunization coverage in risk population and conduct rubella immunization activity in child bearing aged woman to control and eliminate rubella
Predicting the risk of prostate cancer on biopsy.

Considerable uncertainty surrounds the screening, diagnosis, and management of prostate cancer.