cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Singular perturbation method for near optimum design of high-order non-linear systems

This paper extends the singular perturbation method proposed in an earlier paper by the same authors. For a class of non-linear systems, a sufficient condition is given under which the optimal control is continuous and differentiable with respect to perturbations which change the order of the system, the ''singular perturbations''. Then a low-order near optimum design for high-order systems is developed. The dimensionality 2(n + m) of the boundary value problem is reduced to 2n, while the performance achieved is close to optimum. Example of the near-optimum design for a fifth order non-linear plant is included.
Dependence of mammalian DNA replication on DNA supercoling I. Effects of ethidium bromide on DNA synthesis in permeable Chinese hamster ovary cells

Chinese hamster ovary cells labelled with [14C]thymidine were made permeable, incubated with various concentrations of the intercalating dye ethidium bromide, and centrifuged through neutral sucrose gradients. The gradient profiles of these cells were qualitatively similar to those obtained by centrifuging DNA from untreated, lysed permeable cells through gradients containing ethidium bromide. The sedimentation distance of DNA had a biphasic dependence on the concentration of ethidium bromide, suggesting that the dye altered the amount of DNA supercoiling in situ. The effect of ethidium bromide intercalation on incorporation of [3H]dTMP into acid-precipitable material in an in vitro DNA synthesis mixture was measured. The incorporation of [3H]dTMP was unaffected by less than 1 microgram/ml of ethidium bromide, enhanced up to two-fold by 1--10 microgram/ml, and inhibited by concentrations greater than 10 micrograms/ml. Alkaline sucrose gradient analysis revealed a higher percentage of small DNA fragments (6--20 S) in the cells treated with 2 micrograms/ml ethidium bromide than in control cells. These fragments attained parental size within the same time as the fragments in control cells. In cells treated with 2 micrograms/ml ethidium bromide, a significant fraction of newly synthesized DNA resulted from new starts, whereas in untreated cells practically none of the newly synthesized DNA resulted from new starts. These results suggest that relaxation of DNA supercoiled structures ahead of the replication fork generates spurious initiations of DNA synthesis and that in intact cells the rate of chain elongation is limited by supercoiled regions ahead of the growing point.
Cellular Dynamic Simulator: An Event Driven Molecular Simulation Environment for Cellular Physiology

In this paper, we present the Cellular Dynamic Simulator (CDS) for simulating diffusion and chemical reactions within crowded molecular environments. CDS is based on a novel event driven algorithm specifically designed for precise calculation of the timing of collisions, reactions and other events for each individual molecule in the environment. Generic mesh based compartments allow the creation / importation of very simple or detailed cellular structures that exist in a 3D environment. Multiple levels of compartments and static obstacles can be used to create a dense environment to mimic cellular boundaries and the intracellular space. The CDS algorithm takes into account volume exclusion and molecular crowding that may impact signaling cascades in small sub-cellular compartments such as dendritic spines. With the CDS, we can simulate simple enzyme reactions; aggregation, channel transport, as well as highly complicated chemical reaction networks of both freely diffusing and membrane bound multi-protein complexes. Components of the CDS are generally defined such that the simulator can be applied to a wide range of environments in terms of scale and level of detail. Through an initialization GUI, a simple simulation environment can be created and populated within minutes yet is powerful enough to design complex 3D cellular architecture. The initialization tool allows visual confirmation of the environment construction prior to execution by the simulator. This paper describes the CDS algorithm, design implementation, and provides an overview of the types of features available and the utility of those features are highlighted in demonstrations.
The fatty acid composition of leech lipids

Abstract 1. 1. The constituent fatty acids of the neutral and phospholipids of Macrobdella ditetra, Nephelopsis obscura, Philobdella gracilis and Hirudo medicinalis have been determined. 2. 2. Unsaturated fatty acids predominated in both neutral and phospholipid fractions of all leech species examined. 3. 3. Arachidonic acid (20:4) was the most prevalent fatty acid in all species, accounting for as much as 36.7% of the total phospholipid fatty acids.
Molecular Symmetry and Related Properties

Abstract The molecular rotational symmetry number, [sgrave], is defined and evaluated for a wide range of rigid organic compounds. Molecular symmetry is an important determinant of a variety of properties of crystalline substances. It is shown that the entropy of melting, ΔSm, is related to symmetry by ΔSm = 13.5–R In[sgrave]. Since molecular symmetry plays an important role in the determination of the entropy of melting it is also important in determining vapor pressure and ideal solubility, both of which depend upon entropy of melting.
Automatic three-dimensional finite element mesh generation via modified ray casting

Three-dimensional (3-D) finite element mesh generation has been the target of automation due to the complexities associated with generating and visualizing the mesh. A fully automatic 3-D mesh generation method is developed. The method is capable of meshing CSG solid models. It is based on modifying the classical ray-casting technique to meet the requirements of mesh generation. The modifications include the utilization of the element size in the casting process, the utilization of 3-D space box enclosures, and the casting of ray segments (rays with finite length). The method begins by casting ray segments into the solid. Based on the intersections between the segments and the solid boundary, the solid is discretized into cells arranged in a structure. The cell structure stores neighbourhood relations between its cells. Each cell is meshed with valid finite elements. Mesh continuity between cells is achieved via the neighbourhood relations. The last step is to process the boundary elements to represent closely the boundary. The method has been tested and applied to a number of solid models. Sample examples are presented.
What, Where, and When?

Alfred Russel Wallace, whose contributions to science we celebrate this year, the 100th anniversary of his death, is probably best known for his role in articulating evolution by natural selection with Charles Darwin in the mid-19th century. But important as that was, it was his unique field-oriented perspective that gave birth to a whole new way of looking at the world. In his two-volume The Geographical Distribution of Animals ( 1 ), Wallace broke new ground by setting patterns of distribution in an evolutionary context and insisting on the necessity for comparative data across all of life (see the first figure). He can rightly be hailed as the founder of biogeography, a field that is today more important than ever as concerns mount over the fate of biodiversity.
Development and Implementation of an Exposure Assessment Program in a Research-Based Facility: Phase I

Abstract Exposure assessment programs and related databases are of increasing importance in the field of industrial hygiene. The ability to systematically evaluate potential health risks to workers, to establish and document exposure levels, and to ensure compliance with regulations in an efficient and effective manner is a necessity in every type of industry. Moreover, once this information is collected, its organization and storage in a format that facilitates retrieval and use by a variety of end users must also be addressed. While the need for programs that meet these needs is apparent, the development and implementation of such programs poses great challenges, not only to industrial hygienists, but to all individuals responsible for the protection of worker health and safety. In a research-based setting, these individuals face the additional challenge of managing facilities that contain a large number of operations that are generally dynamic in nature, contain a wide spectrum of associated hazards (i...
Distributed solute and water reabsorption in a central core model of the renal medulla

Abstract In this model study we investigate the dependence of urine concentrating capability on the spatial distribution of solute and water reabsorption from Henle's loops. Within the context of model assumptions, urine concentrating capability is increased by exponential decline in loop population as a function of medullary depth and by solute efflux localized near loop bends, in accordance with earlier, but less comprehensive, studies. Further, we find that water-impermeable prebend enlargements of the descending limb may release urine concentrating capacity that would Otherwise be needed to concentrate the fluid flowing in the prebend enlargements. Calculations reported here suggest that without some distributed features, even vigorous net active transport of solute from the ascending limbs of the inner medulla would not be sufficient to explain the large concentration gradients generated by some mammals. We consider the significance of distributed reabsorption for the operation of the concentrating mechanisms of the mammalian inner medulla, the mammalian outer medulla, and the avian medullary cone.
Bootstrapped K-Distribution Parameter Estimation

Parameter estimation for the K distribution is an essential part of the statistical analysis of non-Rayleigh sonar reverberation and clutter for performance prediction, estimation of scattering properties, and for use in signal and information processing algorithms. Owing to the computational intensity of maximum likelihood techniques, the method of moments is often used to obtain parameter estimates. However, as often as half the time these techniques will result in non-invertible moment equations and therefore no estimate of the K-distribution parameters. In this paper a method-of-moments estimator is proposed that always provides a solution by exploiting bootstrapping to obtain a probability density function for the K-distribution shape parameter (alpha) given the observed data from which the mean or a confidence interval may be computed. The bootstrap-based estimate is seen to have lower mean squared error than the method of moments with minimal additional computational effort. The technique is also shown to easily extend to the combination of multiple independent observations providing better estimation than taking a mean or median when alpha is moderate to large
Serendipitous synthesis of novel dehydro- and dechloro-pseudomycin B (PSB) derivatives

The syntheses and preliminary investigation of antifungal activities of two dehydro PSB derivatives 8 and 10 as well as one 3-imido-9-dechloro PSB analogue 13 are described.
Association of phosphorylated Simian virus 40 T-antigen with subnuclear fractions of infected and transformed cells

To define the roles of subnuclear structure in SV40 infection, the relative distribution of T-antigen (T-ag) in various subnuclear fractions obtained from both lytically infected and transformed African green monkey kidney cells was determined. Depending on the differential sensitivity of nuclear T-ag to extraction by salt and detergent, nuclear T-ag could be separated into nucleoplasmic T-ag, salt-sensitive T-ag and matrix-bound T-ag subclasses. At least fivefold less matrix-bound T-ag was found in transformed cells than in lytically infected cells. While a cAMP-independent protein kinase was detected in the nuclear matrix, the matrix-bound T-ag (94K) could not be phosphorylated in vitro. The removal of cellular chromosomes by DNase caused changes in the interaction of T-ag with nuclear components. The results suggest that the compartmentalization of nuclear T-ag may be determined by its interaction with host chromosomes.
An automated temporal partitioning and loop fission approach for FPGA based reconfigurable synthesis of DSP applications

We present an automated temporal partitioning and loop transformation approach for developing dynamically reconfigurable designs starting from behavior level specifications. An Integer Linear Programming (ILP) model is formulated to achieve near-optimal latency designs. We, also present a loop restructuring method to achieve maximum throughput for a class of DSP applications. This restructuring transformation is performed on the temporally partitioned behavior and results in near-optimization of throughput. We discuss efficient memory mapping and address generation techniques for the synthesis of reconfigurable designs. A case study on the Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) image compression algorithm demonstrates the effectiveness of our approach.
Reverse shoulder arthroplasty glenoid fixation: is there a benefit in using four instead of two screws?

Background To allow osseous integration to occur and thus provide long-term stability, initial glenoid baseplate fixation must be sufficiently rigid. A major contributing factor to initial rigid fixation is baseplate screw fixation. Current baseplate designs use a 4-screw fixation construct. However, recent literature suggests adequate fixation can be achieved with fewer than 4 screws. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether a 4-screw construct provides more baseplate stability than a 2-screw construct. Methods A flat-backed glenoid baseplate with 4 screw hole options was implanted into 6 matched pairs of cadaver scapulas using standard surgical technique. Within each pair, 2 screws or 4 screws were implanted in a randomized fashion. A glenosphere was attached allowing cyclic loading in an inferior-to-superior direction and in an anterior-to-posterior direction. Baseplate motion was measured using 4 linear voltage displacement transducers evenly spaced around the glenosphere. Results There was no statistical difference in the average peak central displacements between fixation with 2 or 4 screws ( P = .338). Statistical increases in average peak central displacement with increasing load ( P P Conclusion This study demonstrates no statistical difference in baseplate motion between 2-screw and 4-screw constructs. Therefore, using fewer screws could potentially lead to a reduction in operative time, cost, and risk, with no significant negative effect on overall implant baseplate motion.
Childhood dermatomyositis: Factors predicting functional outcome and development of dystrophic calcification

The medical records of 47 children with dermatomyositis who were seen in the pediatric rheumatology clinic at the University of Michigan between 1964 and 1982 were reviewed. Although most children with dermatomyositis have a good prognosis, the best predictor of both good functional recovery and minimal calcinosis is early treatment after the onset of symptoms, using high doses of prednisone for an adequate length of time. Of the children given such treatment, 78% had good functional outcomes, and disabling calcinosis was seen in 20% or less. Children given treatment late in the course of disease and with low doses of steroids are more likely to be functionally limited and have a greater amount of dystrophic calcium salt deposition. In our study, only 33% of patients given such treatment had a mild disease course with good functional outcome. We have identified a subgroup of children with dermatomyositis who appear to do poorly despite optimal therapeutic regimens. These patients are distinguished by a severe disease course responding minimally to corticosteroid therapy and manifested by persistent muscle weakness, elevations of muscle enzyme activity, and severe generalized cutaneous vasculitis. These children are at high risk for the development of exoskeleton-like calcification; consideration should be given to combined immunosuppressive therapy early in the course of disease.
An introduction to a series of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency special committee reports on testing approaches for the detection of chemically induced aneuploidy.

Abstract A committee of scientists was established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ∗ to appraise the current state of aneuploidy test methodology, to compile and analyze published data on the chemical induction of aneuploidy, and to provide guidance for additional test development and validation. The reports that follow in this special issue of Mutation Research, document the urgent need for test method development and validation in this important area of environmental mutagenesis, and provide directions for further research.
PPARγ Is Required for the Differentiation of Adipose Tissue In Vivo and In Vitro

Abstract The process of adipogenesis is known to involve the interplay of several transcription factors. Activation of one of these factors, the nuclear hormone receptor PPARγ, is known to promote fat cell differentiation in vitro. Whether PPARγ is required for this process in vivo has remained an open question because a viable loss-of-function model for PPARγ has been lacking. We demonstrate here that mice chimeric for wild-type and PPARγ null cells show little or no contribution of null cells to adipose tissue, whereas most other organs examined do not require PPARγ for proper development. In vitro, the differentiation of ES cells into fat is shown to be dependent on PPARγ gene dosage. These data provide direct evidence that PPARγ is essential for the formation of fat.
Mechanism of ganciclovir-induced chain termination revealed by resistant viral polymerase mutants with reduced exonuclease activity.

Many antiviral and anticancer drugs are nucleoside analogs that target polymerases and cause DNA chain termination. Interestingly, ganciclovir (GCV), the first line of therapy for human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infections, induces chain termination despite containing the equivalent of a 3′-hydroxyl group. Certain HCMV GCV resistance (GCVr) mutations, including ones associated with treatment failures, result in substitutions in the 3′–5′ exonuclease (Exo) domain of the catalytic subunit of the viral DNA polymerase (Pol). To investigate how these mutations confer resistance, we overexpressed and purified wild-type (WT) HCMV Pol and three GCVr Exo mutants. Kinetic studies provided little support for resistance being due to effects on Pol binding or incorporation of GCV-triphosphate. The mutants were defective for Exo activity on all primer templates tested, including those with primers terminating with GCV, arguing against the mutations increasing excision of the incorporated drug. However, although the WT enzyme terminated DNA synthesis after incorporation of GCV-triphosphate and an additional nucleotide (N+1), the Exo mutants could efficiently synthesize DNA to the end of such primer templates. Notably, the Exo activity of WT Pol rapidly and efficiently degraded N+2 primer templates to N+1 products that were not further degraded. On N+1 primer templates, WT Pol, much more than the Exo mutants, converted the incoming deoxynucleoside triphosphate to its monophosphate, indicative of rapid addition and removal of incorporated nucleotides (“idling”). These results explain how GCV induces chain termination and elucidate a previously unidentified mechanism of antiviral drug resistance.
Cross-Layer Design for MIMO Systems

This work builds on previous results characterizing the diversity-multiplexing tradeoff region in multiple antenna wireless systems to find the point on this region that minimizes end-to-end distortion. Our goal is to find the optimal balance between the increased data rate provided by multiplexing versus the error protection provided by diversity. We first examine the distortion achieved by concatenating a vector quantizer with a multiple antenna channel. We show that in the high-SNR asymptotic regime we can find a closed form expression for the distortion exponent as a function of the optimal point on the diversity-multiplexing tradeoff curve. We also consider a numerical example for delay-constrained distortion. Our results show that the optimal operating strategy under delay constraints is substantially different than the optimal tradeoff strategy for average distortion.
Aspirin Use and Risk of Cataract in Posttrial Follow-up of Physicians' Health Study I

Background In Physicians' Health Study I, randomized trial results indicated no major beneficial effect of 5 years of low-dose aspirin treatment on total cataract (relative risk [RR], 0.94; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.79-1.13) or cataract extraction (RR, 0.81; 95% CI, 0.65-1.01) during the period of treatment. Objective To examine the effect of assigned aspirin treatment and posttrial, self-selected aspirin use on the risk of age-related cataract over the 15 years of follow-up of Physicians' Health Study I. Methods Participants were 20 968 US male physicians enrolled in Physicians' Health Study I who did not report cataract at baseline. At 7 years, after termination of the randomized aspirin component of the trial, self-selected aspirin use was computed from annual questionnaires. The main outcome measures were age-related cataract and extraction of age-related cataract, defined as an incident, age-related lens opacity responsible for a reduction in best-corrected visual acuity to 20/30 or worse based on self-report confirmed by medical record review. Results During a median of 14.9 years of follow-up, there were 2081 cataracts and 1198 cataract extractions. Overall, the age- and beta carotene–adjusted RR of cataract in men assigned to aspirin compared with those assigned to placebo was 1.09 (95% CI, 1.00-1.18). For cataract extraction, the RR was 1.09 (95% CI, 0.98-1.22). During a median posttrial follow-up of 7.9 years, a total of 1225 incident cataracts and 635 cataract extractions were documented. The multivariate RR of cataract in men who reported using aspirin frequently(≥180 days per year) at 7 years compared with nonusers (0-13 days per year) was 1.20 (95% CI, 1.03-1.40). For cataract extraction, the multivariate RR was 1.22 (95% CI, 0.98-1.51). Results for diagnosis and extraction of cataract subtypes were similar. Conclusions Analyses based on randomized aspirin assignment indicated no long-term benefit of 5 years of low-dose aspirin treatment on total cataract or cataract extraction. Posttrial, observational data also indicated no decreased risk of cataract in aspirin users and suggested a small increased risk of cataract in aspirin users. Further randomized trial data to investigate the effect of longer term treatment with low-dose aspirin are being collected as part of the ongoing Women's Health Study, a randomized trial of low-dose aspirin and vitamin E among 39 876 apparently healthy, postmenopausal US female health professionals.
Dynamic simulation of particle packing influenced by size, aspect ratio and surface energy

The multi-sphere method and JKR model are used in the discrete element method simulation to investigate the effect of the particle size, aspect ratios, and cohesiveness on the packing structure, characterized by porosity, radial distribution function (RDF), coordination number and contact geometry. In the absence of cohesive force, the porosity is nearly invariable with fixed aspect ratio, regardless of the size of the particles. In contrast, as surface energy increases, the porosity increases with decreasing particle size and increasing aspect ratio. The RDF results show that the number of peaks for different aspect ratios changes and show trends similar to the relaxation algorithm, expected for the finer particles. In the case of finer, cohesive particles, the most novel outcome of contact analysis is the existence of single contact, attributed to the formation of a cage structure, which has not been previously reported. The peak position and the width of the contact distributions are affected by higher surface energy because fewer contacts are required to achieve the mechanical equilibrium. Another interesting observation is that higher porosity does not always imply fewer contacts for particles with non-zero aspect ratios and high surface energies. The analysis of the distribution of the contact vector angles is found to better explain increased porosity in spite of higher coordination numbers. The results presented shed light on the packing density and structure, revealing features not easily discerned via experiments, and confirming the important role of the cohesion and aspect ratio in packing.
Three Orbital Burns to Molniya Orbit Via Shuttle_Centaur G Upper Stage

An unclassified analytical trajectory design, performance, and mission study was done for the 1982-86 joint NASA-USAF Shuttle/Centaur G upper stage development program to send performance-demanding payloads to high orbits such as Molniya using an unconventional orbit transfer. This optimized three orbital burn transfer to Molniya orbit was compared to the then-baselined two burn transfer. The results of the three dimensional trajectory optimization performed include powered phase steering data and coast phase orbital element data. Time derivatives of the orbital elements as functions of thrust components were evaluated and used to explain the optimization's solution. Vehicle performance as a function of parking orbit inclination was given. Performance and orbital element data was provided for launch windows as functions of launch time. Ground track data was given for all burns and coasts including variation within the launch window. It was found that a Centaur with fully loaded propellant tanks could be flown from a 37deg inclination low Earth parking orbit and achieve Molniya orbit with comparable performance to the baselined transfer which started from a 57deg inclined orbit: 9,545 lb vs. 9,552 lb of separated spacecraft weight respectively. There was a significant reduction in the need for propellant launch time reserve for a one hour window: only 78 lb for the three burn transfer vs. 320 lb for the two burn transfer. Conversely, this also meant that longer launch windows over more orbital revolutions could be done for the same amount of propellant reserve. There was no practical difference in ground tracking station or airborne assets needed to secure telemetric data, even though the geometric locations of the burns varied considerably. There was a significant adverse increase in total mission elapsed time for the three vs. two burn transfer (12 vs. 11/4 hrs), but could be accommodated by modest modifications to Centaur systems. Future applications were discussed. The three burn transfer was found to be a viable, arguably preferable, alternative to the two burn transfer.
Lane Detection and Tracking through Affine Rectification.

Inversion of the perspective mapping in acquired images enables an autonomous vehicle to perform vision-based navigation tasks, such as obstacle detection. We present work on affine rectification that restores the parallel property of a traffic lane, using the vanishing point of equally spaced parallel lane boundaries. Experimental results demonstrate thepotential of our newalgorithm.
Perceptual reasoning using interval type-2 fuzzy sets: Properties

Perceptual reasoning (PR) is an approximate reasoning mechanism that can be used as a computing with words (CWW) Engine, i.e., given input words, PR can infer the output from a rulebase. When the input words and the words in the rulebase are modeled by interval type-2 fuzzy sets (IT2 FSs), the output of PR, YtildePR, is also an IT2 FS, and it will be mapped to a word in a codebook. For accurate mapping, we need to ensure that YtildePR resembles the IT2 FSs in the codebook. The concept of PR using IT2 FSs was originally proposed in [10]. In this paper, the procedures to compute PR are introduced, and the properties of PR are studied in more detail. More specifically, we show under what conditions YtildePR can be a shoulder or interior footprint of uncertainty.
Viral hepatitis in metropolitan Sydney

Summary The spatial distribution of viral hepatitis Types A and B in Sydney's Inner City Health District over a twelve‐year period from 1965 to 1976 has depended on the interaction of a number of physical and demographic variables. The highest incidence of Type A, carried in faecal matter, has tended to occur in areas where soil and water pollution is frequent and severe, where standards of hygiene are low and where, for various reasons, community immunity is low. It is probable that a completely different set of variables influences the diffusion of Type B, carried by the blood stream and bodily secretions. These may include the number of drug users within a community, the number of Asian migrants or recent contact with Asians, the number of susceptibles within the 15–30 year old age group, the amount of inadequately treated blood or blood serum used for transfusion, and perhaps the degree of soil and water pollution.
Concurrent quantification of multiple nanoparticle bound states.

Purpose: The binding of nanoparticles toin vivo targets impacts their use for medical imaging, therapy, and the study of diseases and disease biomarkers. Though an array of techniques can detect binding in vitro, the search for a robust in vivo method continues. The spectral response of magnetic nanoparticles can be influenced by a variety of changes in their physical environment including viscosity and binding. Here, the authors show that nanoparticles in these different environmental states produce spectral responses, which are sufficiently unique to allow for simultaneous quantification of the proportion of nanoparticles within each state. Methods: The authors measured the response to restricted Brownian motion using an array of magnetic nanoparticle designs. With a chosen optimal particle type, the authors prepared particle samples in three distinct environmental states. Various combinations of particles within these three states were measured concurrently and the authors attempted to solve for the quantity of particles within each physical state. Results: The authors found the spectral response of the nanoparticles to be sufficiently unique to allow for accurate quantification of up to three bound states with errors on the order of 1.5%. Furthermore, the authors discuss numerous paths for translating these measurements toin vivo applications. Conclusions: Multiple nanoparticle environmental states can be concurrently quantified using the spectral response of the particles. Such an ability, if translated to thein vivo realm, could provide valuable information about the fate of nanoparticlesin vivo or improve the efficacy of nanoparticle based treatments.
Epilepsy surgery in children: When, why, and how

Many treatment options exist for adult patients with epilepsy; somewhat fewer exist for pediatric patients. In most cases, physicians attempt pharmaceutical therapy to alleviate or control seizures before embarking on the more permanent course of surgery as a treatment, and surgery is performed only after patients have failed multiple trials of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs). Information has come to light, however, that questions this norm. At the very least, new information demands increased awareness about the “whens,” “whys,” and “hows” of surgical management when it is under consideration as an option for patients with intractable epilepsy. At best, the information may be signaling that the time has come for clinicians to start thinking about surgical interventions sooner in the course of a patient’s disorder. According to information reported about long-term outcomes of patients undergoing pharmaceutical treatment for new-onset epilepsy, physicians should consider surgical management as the next step in therapy when the patient has not responded to two different monotherapies with AEDs. Kwan and Brodie1 followed 525 patients (9 to 93 years of age) with new-onset epilepsy for a median follow-up period of 5 years. Ninety percent of the patients were followed for more than 3 years. Participants entering the study were not taking AEDs at time of entry, although they were not excluded if they had received previous treatment with AEDs. Although no difference in response was found between patients receiving older AEDs and those receiving therapy with more recently developed AEDs, the study authors noted a statistically significant relationship between the number of seizures experienced and the response to AEDs. Specifically, the prevalence of persistent seizures was higher in patients who had experienced more than 20 seizures versus patients with 20 or fewer seizures before entering the study (51% versus 29%; p < 0.001). In addition, the prevalence …
Posture and gaze in early mother–infant communication: synchronization of developmental trajectories

Weekly laboratory observations of free play for 13 middle-income mother‐infant dyads, from 1 to 6 months of age, were used to study the synchronization of developmental trajectories between infant postural position and gaze direction. Mothers sat in a straight-backed chair while holding infants on their laps and were free to adjust the infant’s posture. Postural position was coded as upright (supported sitting or standing on the mother’s lap) or other (lying, cradling, or being held close to mother). Gaze was coded as either at mother’s face or away. The age of onset of visually guided reaching was also assessed. Results show that there were longer durations of gazing away when the infant was in an upright position. Over the 5 month period of observation, the dyads began with a pattern of non-upright positions accompanied by gaze at mother. Contrary to previous predictions, the developmental shift in the first 6 months from exclusive gazing at mother’s face to gazing away from mother was not synchronized with the development of reaching, but rather with changes in the infant’s posture to more upright positions. The possible role of postural position in fostering positive emotional communication is discussed.
Neuro-Ophthalmologic Findings in Patients with the Anti-GAD Antibody Syndrome

Purpose: To report neuro-ophthalmic findings in four patients with the anti-glutamic acid decarboxylase (anti-GAD) syndrome. Design: Retrospective case series. Participants: Four patients with anti-GAD antibody syndrome. Methods: Review of all cases of anti-GAD antibody syndrome with neuro-ophthalmic findings at three academic tertiary care centers. Main outcome measures: Neuro-ophthalmic findings. Results: Four patients with neuro-ophthalmic findings (including nystagmus, ophthalmoplegia, and diplopia) related to anti-GAD antibody syndrome are reviewed. Conclusion: Anti-GAD antibody syndrome may be associated with neuro-ophthalmic findings.
Identity and Gender in Hunting and Gathering Societies

Identity and Gender in Hunting and Gathering Societies. Ian Keen and Takado Yamada. eds. Osaka: National Museum of Ethnology, 2001. 263 pp.
Preface to the Journal of Cardiovascular Disease Research, third issue 2011.

It is a pleasure to present this year’s third issue of the Journal of Cardiovascular Disease Research (JCDR) to our audience. Our editorial board is excited to observe continuous growth of the journal and its formation into a true multidisciplinary publication. In a short span of time, we were indexed in Scopus, PubMed, and other important national and international databases. The journal is continuing to receive very interesting and high-quality manuscripts from all over the world
An examination of rater performance on a local oral English proficiency test: A mixed-methods approach:

This paper reports on a mixed-methods approach to evaluate rater performance on a local oral English proficiency test. Three types of reliability estimates were reported to examine rater performanc...
Multiscale Bessel beams from tunable acoustic gradient index of refraction lenses

A device that uses acoustic waves within a fluid to phase modulate an incident laser beam and form tunable multiscale Bessel beams is presented. This device is both modelled and experimentally characterized.
Fibromyalgia: A clinical review

Importance Fibromyalgia is present in as much as 2% to 8% of the population, is characterized by widespread pain, and is often accompanied by fatigue, memory problems, and sleep disturbances. Objective To review the epidemiology, pathophysiology, diagnosis, and treatment of fibromyalgia. Evidence Review The medical literature on fibromyalgia was reviewed from 1955 to March 2014 via MEDLINE and the Cochrane Central Registry of Controlled Trials, with an emphasis on meta-analyses and contemporary evidence-based treatment guidelines. Treatment recommendations are based on the most recent evidence-based guidelines from the Canadian Pain Society and graded from 1 to 5 based on the level of available evidence. Findings Numerous treatments are available for managing fibromyalgia that are supported by high-quality evidence. These include nonpharmacological therapies (education, exercise, cognitive behavioral therapy) and pharmacological therapies (tricyclics, serotonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors, and gabapentinoids). Conclusions and Relevance Fibromyalgia and other “centralized” pain states are much better understood now than ever before. Fibromyalgia may be considered as a discrete diagnosis or as a constellation of symptoms characterized by central nervous system pain amplification with concomitant fatigue, memory problems, and sleep and mood disturbances. Effective treatment for fibromyalgia is now possible.
Molecular Dynamics Study of Size Dependence of Combustion of Aluminum Nanoparticles

Oxidation dynamics of three different sizes (26, 36 and 46 nm) of single aluminum nanoparticle (ANP) in oxygen environment are studied using multimillion-atom reactive molecular dynamics simulations. In the simulation, each aluminum nanoparticle is coated with an amorphous alumina shell of the same thickness (3 nm), and is ignited by heating the nanoparticle to 1100 K. The metallic aluminum and ceramic alumina are modeled by the Voter- Chen embedded atom model and the interatomic potential by Vashishta et al., respectively. Energy release rate and atomistic-level details of combustion of these single aluminum nanoparticles are investigated, along with the effect of nanoparticle size. The onset temperature of shell Al ejection is found to be independent of the ANP size, whereas the onset time of ejection and the time delay to the highest temperature change rate dT/dt depend on the size.
A Micromagnetic Study of Signal Propagations along MCA Data Channels

We present the results of micromagnetic studies on stability and bit propagation in the patterned nanodot chains. In particular, we discuss periodic results of long-array switching using a clocking field.
Identifying genetic marker sets associated with phenotypes via an efficient adaptive score test

In recent years, genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and gene-expression profiling have generated a large number of valuable datasets for assessing how genetic variations are related to disease outcomes. With such datasets, it is often of interest to assess the overall effect of a set of genetic markers, assembled based on biological knowledge. Genetic marker-set analyses have been advocated as more reliable and powerful approaches compared with the traditional marginal approaches (Curtis and others, 2005. Pathways to the analysis of microarray data. TRENDS in Biotechnology 23, 429–435; Efroni and others, 2007. Identification of key processes underlying cancer phenotypes using biologic pathway analysis. PLoS One 2, 425). Procedures for testing the overall effect of a marker-set have been actively studied in recent years. For example, score tests derived under an Empirical Bayes (EB) framework (Liu and others, 2007. Semiparametric regression of multidimensional genetic pathway data: least-squares kernel machines and linear mixed models. Biometrics 63, 1079–1088; Liu and others, 2008. Estimation and testing for the effect of a genetic pathway on a disease outcome using logistic kernel machine regression via logistic mixed models. BMC bioinformatics 9, 292–2; Wu and others, 2010. Powerful SNP-set analysis for case-control genome-wide association studies. American Journal of Human Genetics 86, 929) have been proposed as powerful alternatives to the standard Rao score test (Rao, 1948. Large sample tests of statistical hypotheses concerning several parameters with applications to problems of estimation. Mathematical Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society, 44, 50–57). The advantages of these EB-based tests are most apparent when the markers are correlated, due to the reduction in the degrees of freedom. In this paper, we propose an adaptive score test which up- or down-weights the contributions from each member of the marker-set based on the Z-scores of their effects. Such an adaptive procedure gains power over the existing procedures when the signal is sparse and the correlation among the markers is weak. By combining evidence from both the EB-based score test and the adaptive test, we further construct an omnibus test that attains good power in most settings. The null distributions of the proposed test statistics can be approximated well either via simple perturbation procedures or via distributional approximations. Through extensive simulation studies, we demonstrate that the proposed procedures perform well in finite samples. We apply the tests to a breast cancer genetic study to assess the overall effect of the FGFR2 gene on breast cancer risk.
Socio-cultural dynamics of female genital cutting : Research findings, gaps, and directions

The goal of abolishing female genital cutting (FGC, or also FGM or 'female circumcision') requires that the socio-cultural dynamics of the practice be well understood if behavioural change is to be accomplished. This paper, based on the literature and the author's ethnographic research in Sudan, reports on the research issues of studying the variation in and complexity of cutting practices and their cultural correlates, arguing for multiple approaches and methods. It highlights directions for future research.
Decreased aortic diameter and compliance precedes blood pressure increases in postnatal development of elastin-insufficient mice

Increased arterial stiffness and blood pressure are characteristic of humans and adult mice with reduced elastin levels caused by aging or genetic disease. Direct associations have been shown betwe...
Population pharmacokinetic modeling of cefadroxil renal transport in wild-type and Pept2 knockout mice.

1. Cefadroxil is a broad-spectrum β-lactam antibiotic that is widely used in the treatment of various infectious diseases. Currently, poor understanding of the drug's pharmacokinetic profiles and disposition mechanism(s) prevents determining optimal dosage regimens and achieving ideal antibacterial responses in patients. In the present retrospective study, we developed a population pharmacokinetic model of cefadroxil in wild-type and Pept2 knockout mice using the nonlinear mixed effect modeling (NONMEM) approach. 2. Cefadroxil pharmacokinetics were best described by a two-compartment model, with both saturable and nonsaturable elimination processes to/from the central compartment. Through this modeling approach, pharmacokinetic parameters in wild-type and Pept2 knockout mice were well estimated, respectively, as follows: volume of central compartment V1 (3.43 versus 4.23 mL), volume of peripheral compartment V2 (5.98 versus 8.61 mL), intercompartment clearance Q (0.599 versus 0.586 mL/min) and linear elimination rate constant K10 (0.111 versus 0.070 min(-1)). Moreover, the secretion kinetics (i.e. V(m1) = 17.6 nmoL/min and K(m1) = 37.1 µM) and reabsorption kinetics (i.e. V(m2) = 15.0 nmoL/min and K(m2) = 27.1 µM) of cefadroxil were quantified in kidney, for the first time, under in vivo conditions. 3. Our model provides a unique tool to quantitatively predict the dose-dependent nonlinear disposition of cefadroxil, as well as the potential for transporter-mediated drug interactions.
A genetic algorithm to improve linux kernel performance on resource-constrained devices

As computers become increasingly mobile, users demand more functionality, longer battery-life, and better performance from mobile devices. In response, chipset fabricators are focusing on elegant architectures to provide solutions that are both low-power and high-performance. Since these architectures rely on unique x86 extensions rather than fast clock speeds and large caches, careful thought must be placed into effective optimization strategies for not only user applications, but also the kernel itself, as the typical default optimizations used by modern compilers do not often take advantage of these specialized features. Focusing on the Intel Diamondville platform, this paper presents a genetic algorithm that evolves the compiler flags needed to build a Linux kernel that exhibits reduced response times.
Simple correlations between electric quadrupole moments of atomic nuclei

Measurements of nonyrast electric quadrupole moments (i.e., diagonal $E2$ matrix elements) of atomic nuclei are becoming widely available from multiple-step Coulomb excitation. It is shown that, where quadrupole-moment data exist, $\ensuremath{\langle}{2}_{1}^{+}||E2||{2}_{1}^{+}\ensuremath{\rangle}+\ensuremath{\langle}{2}_{2}^{+}||E2||{2}_{2}^{+}\ensuremath{\rangle}\ensuremath{\approx}0$ is observed across a wide range of masses, deformations, and first ${2}^{+}$ energies. Nearly all of these quadrupole-moment data, particularly $\ensuremath{\langle}{2}_{2}^{+}||E2||{2}_{2}^{+}\ensuremath{\rangle}$, are from the past two decades with half of the data from the past decade. In addition, $\ensuremath{\langle}{4}_{1}^{+}||E2||{4}_{1}^{+}\ensuremath{\rangle}+\ensuremath{\langle}{4}_{2}^{+}||E2||{4}_{2}^{+}\ensuremath{\rangle}+\ensuremath{\langle}{4}_{3}^{+}||E2||{4}_{3}^{+}\ensuremath{\rangle}\ensuremath{\approx}0$ is observed within two standard deviations for three of the four existing measurements. Despite many and varying complexities in the structure details of the individual nuclei, the correlations in the quadrupole moments appear simple.
Tailored Nanoporous Coatings Fabricated on Conformable Polymer Substrates

Nanoporous coatings have become the subject of intense investigation, in part because they have been shown to have unique and tailorable physical properties that can depart greatly from their dense or macroscopic counterparts. Nanoporous coatings are frequently fabricated utilizing oblique-angle or glancing-angle physical vapor-phase deposition techniques. However, a significant limitation for such coatings exists; they are almost always deposited on smooth and rigid planar substrates, such as silicon and glass. This limitation greatly constrains the applicability, tailorability, functionality and even the economic viability, of such nanoporous coatings. Here, we report our findings on nanoporous/polymer composite systems (NPCS) fabricated by utilizing oblique-angle electron-beam methodology. These unique composite systems exhibit several favorable characteristics, namely, (i) fine-tuned control over coating nanoporosity and thickness, (ii) excellent adhesion between the nanoporous coating and polymer sub...
Weather Flight Rules for Space Shuttle operations

Weather plays an important role in all phases of the US Space Shuttle program. To ensure safe and orderly flight and landing of the Space Shuttle NASA has developed a set of Flight Rules. Segments of the Right Rules address the issue of weather and its impact upon the Shuttle. Thunderstorm proximity, precipitation, horizontal and slant range visibility, cloud ceilings, and crosswinds all impact the descent and landing of the Space Shuttle. This article will discuss the content and change process of those Flight Rules that deal specifically with weather.