cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Calculation of the gain-frequency characteritics of an audio amplifier using a digital computer

Electronic circuit designs are most commonly made by "analog" (or "breadboard") methods. This is particularly true in arriving at the desired gain-frequency response characteristics. The mathematical approach to circuit analysis has suffered from the distinct disadvantage of involving the solution of large systems of simultaneous equations with complex, frequency-dependent coefficients often requiring days to solve by hand calculations. The ability of digital computers to solve large systems of simultaneous equations at high speed and without mistakes allows the audio engineer to solve many problems faster by using classical methods than by use of the breadboard technique.
Noise-induced hearing loss can alter neural coding and increase excitability in the central nervous system

Responses of auditory neurons in the inferior colliculi of mice were studied longitudinally before and shortly after each animal was exposed to intense noise. Noise exposure caused expected losses in auditory sensitivity, but in 31 percent of the neurons studied, unexpected alterations of temporal patterns of action potentials were observed: certain suprathreshold stimuli that had evoked only transient "onset" responses or inhibition of spontaneous discharges prior to noise exposure came to elicit sustained excitation after exposure. Thus, noise-induced hearing loss can be associated with increases in neural responsivity and alterations of normal neural coding processes.
Comparison of Freund's and Ribi adjuvants for inducing antibodies to the synthetic antigen (TG)-AL in rabbits.

Antibody responses and health parameters were compared in rabbits immunized with a synthetic polypeptide antigen, [L-Tyr,L-Glu,DL-Ala]-poly-L-lysine ((TG)-AL), in Freund's (FA) or Ribi (RA) adjuvants. Rabbits, 12 weeks old, of both sexes, were inoculated with 0.5 ml divided between two intramuscular (i.m.) sites. Eight received FA and antigen (50 micrograms); eight RA and antigen, eight PBS and antigen; four FA and PBS; four RA and PBS, and four PBS. Identical booster inoculations were made 21 days later, except that incomplete FA was substituted for complete FA. Rabbits were monitored until euthanasia and necropsy 7 weeks after the primary inoculation. Sera, obtained weekly, were analyzed for immunoglobulins using an enzyme immunoassay. Only rabbits given antigen with adjuvant produced high titered antibodies. Mean optical density values for immunoglobulin (Ig)M were greater the week after the booster in the group given FA. IgG values were similar for both adjuvant/antigen groups the week after the booster, but thereafter decreased in rabbits given RA. Antisera from rabbits given antigen with FA had greater avidity for the antigen than that from rabbits given antigen with RA, however, the difference was not significant (p greater than 0.05). Rabbits inoculated with FA and antigen had high serum creatinine kinase levels the day after inoculation, showed evidence of discomfort, and extensive granulomatous inflammation at the inoculation sites. Lesions were minimal to mild in rabbits given antigen with RA and PBS with either adjuvant. While RA did not result in adverse side effects, the IgG response to (TG)-AL with RA was transient compared to FA.
Clinical Trials in Predementia Stages of Alzheimer Disease

Effective treatments of Alzheimer disease (AD) dementia are an urgent necessity. There is a growing consensus that effective disease-modifying treatment before the onset of clinical dementia and slowing the progression of mild symptoms are needed after recent setbacks in AD therapeutics. The identification of at-risk and preclinical AD populations is becoming important for targeting primary and secondary prevention clinical trials in AD. This article reviews the strategies and challenges in targeting at-risk and preclinical AD populations for a new generation of AD clinical trials. Design, outcome measures, and complexities in successfully completing a clinical trial targeting this population are reviewed.
Ultrasound anomaly at Tc in YBa2Cu3Oy

Abstract We measured the fundamental longitudinal acoustic resonant frequency f r of polycrystalline samples of YBa 2 Cu 3 O y . The frequency increases with decreasing temperature and displays a sharp rise as we cool below T c . The fractional change in frequency at T c , Δf r /f r , is 4.5 × 10 -3 and is opposite in sign to that expected at the usual second-order super-conducting transition.
Baseline studies with the four-electrode system: the effect of skin permeability increase and water transport on the flux of a model uncharged solute during iontophoresis

Abstract An uncharged solute is not directly affected by the electrochemical potential gradient (the primary driving force), but its flux during iontophoresis can be influenced by secondary factors such as convective water flow and increase in skin permeability. These secondary effects are not dependent on whether the permeant is charged or neutral and are likely to affect all permeants. Using a neutral, polar solute (glucose) as the permeant, the relative contributions of the skin permeability increase and water flow effects to the iontophoretic flux of a non-electrolyte across hairless mouse skin were assessed using the four-electrode potentiostat system coupled to a diffusion cell. It is shown that the convective water flow at pH 7.4 is in the direction of the current and can assist or impede the iontophoretic flux depending on whether the current is in the same direction as the flux or in the opposite direction. All applied voltage drops across the skin cause an increase in permeability which appears to occur rapidly. At low applied voltage drops (⩽ 0.125 V) across the skin, the water flow contribution to the flux appears to be quite small. As the applied voltage drop across the skin is increased, the water flow contribution becomes increasingly important and at 0.5 V, it becomes greater than the skin permeability increase effect.
QT interval analyses from a placebo and positive controlled study evaluating the electrophysiological effects of duloxetine at supratherapeutic doses

Background/Aims The electrophysiological effects of duloxetine at supratherapeutic exposures were evaluated to ensure compliance with regulatory criteria and to definitively establish the absence of QT/QTc prolongation. Methods ECGs were collected in a multicenter, double blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, crossover study which enrolled 117 healthy female subjects aged 19–74 years. Duloxetine dosages escalated from 60 mg BID to 200 mg BID; moxifloxacin 400 mg was a positive control. The primary analysis was of QTcF (Fridericia's correction) based on a mixed-effect ANOVA model evaluated at the 200-mg BID level. Secondary analyses included a mixed-effect ANCOVA model with RR change from baseline as the covariate and an individual QT correction approach. Results Compared with placebo, the mean change from baseline in QTc decreased with duloxetine 200 mg BID. The upper limits of the 2-sided 90% confidence intervals for duloxetine vs placebo were <0 msec at each time point by any correction method. Absolute QTcF values and the change in QTcF from baseline with duloxetine did not exceed 445 msec and 36 msec, respectively. No relationship was detected between QTc change and plasma concentrations of duloxetine or its metabolites. Moxifloxacin significantly prolonged QTc at all time points, regardless of correction method. Conclusions Duloxetine does not adversely affect ventricular repolarization as assessed by both mean changes and outliers in QT corrected by any correction method. Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics (2005) 77, P12–P12; doi: 10.1016/j.clpt.2004.11.048
Coil Embolization of the Splenic Artery: Impact on Splenic Volume

Abstract Purpose To determine the impact of coil embolization of the splenic artery on splenic volume based on computed tomography (CT) imaging. Materials and Methods Splenic artery embolization (SAE) was performed in 148 consecutive patients over an 8-year period in an institutional review board–approved retrospective study. Of these, 60 patients (36 men; mean age, 49 y) had undergone contrast-enhanced CT before and after SAE with a mean time interval of 355 days. Pre- and postembolization splenic volumes were calculated with volume-rendering software. Presence of Howell–Jolly bodies was ascertained on laboratory tests. A trauma control group consisted of 39 patients with splenic laceration and follow-up CT but no splenic intervention. Results SAE in trauma patients resulted in an insignificant decrease in mean spleen size from 224 cm 3 to 190 cm 3 ( P = .222). However, postembolization splenic volume was significantly smaller than follow-up volume in the trauma control group (353 cm 3 ; P 3 to 399 cm 3 after SAE ( P = .068). Multivariable analysis revealed that coil pack location was the only factor significantly affecting resultant splenic volume ( P = .016). For trauma and nontrauma patients, distal embolization resulted in significant splenic volume loss ( P = .034 and P = .013), whereas proximal embolization did not. No patients had persistent circulating Howell–Jolly bodies after SAE. No patients required repeat embolization or splenectomy. Conclusions Coil embolization of the splenic artery resulted in a modest but significant decrease in splenic volume when performed distally; proximal embolization resulted in an insignificant volume change.
Electron-impact excitation of Fe XXII: Comparative study of relativistic R-matrix and distorted-wave approaches

An implementation of the Dirac $R$-matrix theory is presented and applied to the calculation of electron-impact excitation of B-like Fe XXII in the $n=2$ complex. A detailed comparison between the $R$-matrix and relativistic distorted-wave (DW) results is given. Contrary to the previous close-coupling studies of this ion, where significantly different background collision strengths are found for several transitions as compared with the DW results, we obtain excellent agreements between the two methods for most transitions, except for the weak transitions to the higher members of the $2{p}^{3}$ configuration, where significant channel-coupling effects are indeed present. We show that the discrepancies found in the previous Dirac $R$-matrix calculation for dipole transtions at high energies are due to the nonconvergence of partial wave summation, despite the explicit inclusion of partial waves up to $l=40$. The reason for large differences in the threshold energy region for some transitions between the present and previous Dirac $R$-matrix results is not clear. We also show that the independent-process, isolated-resonance approximation within the DW framework can describe the near-threshold resonances reasonably well for this ion.
Computer game mods, modders, modding, and the mod scene

Computer games have increasingly been the focus of user-led innovations in the form of game mods. This paper examines how different kinds of socio-technical affordances serve to organize the actions of the people who develop and share their game mods. The affordances examined include customization and tailoring mechanisms, software and content copyright licenses, game software infrastructure and development tools, career contingencies and organizational practices of mod teams, and social worlds intersecting the mod scene. Numerous examples will be used to ground this review and highlight how such affordances can organize, facilitate or constrain what can be done. Overall, this study helps to provide a deeper understanding of how a web of associated affordances collectively serve to govern what mods get made, how modding practices emerge and flourish, and how modders and the game industry serve each others' interests, though not always in equivocal terms.
High-temperature electrical conductivity and thermal decomposition of Sylgard® 184 and mixtures containing hollow microspherical fillers

The high-temperature electrical conductivity and thermal decomposition characteristics of Sylgard® 184 with and without hollow microspheres of glass, silica, and ceramic have been determined to 600 to 700°C in air and nitrogen environments. The materials are silicone-based dielectrics and are used as electronic encapsulants. Results show that a peak in the conductivity temperature dependence at ∼300°C results principally from volatilization of [Si(CH3)2O]n with some evolution of water, that oxygen accelerates decomposition, and that the microspheres may help form a network of interconnected conductive pathways in the residual material. There is a good correlation between thermal stability and temperature-dependent electrical properties.
Comparing Internal and External Standards in Voice Quality Judgments

A new descriptive framework for voice quality perception (Kreiman, Gerratt, Kempster, Erman, & Berke, 1993) states that when listeners rate a voice on some quality dimension (e.g., roughness), they...
Interactions of metergoline with diazepam, quipazine, and hallucinogenic drugs on a conflict behavior in the rat.

The effects of diazepam quipazine, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), and 2,5-dimethoxy-4-methylamphetamine (DOM) were examined on a conditioned suppression paradigm. Food-deprived rats were trained to drink a liquid diet from a tube. Subsequently, intermittent 7-s tones were presented during the daily 10-min sessions, the tube being electrified during the last 5 s of each tone. The subject gradually learned to suppress contact with the tube during the tone periods to a low stable level (punished responding) and consumed stable volumes of the liquid diet during the silent periods (unpunished responding). Treatment with diazepam caused large increases (1,000% of control) in punished responding. The hallucinogens produced only modest increases (200–300%), while quipazine did not significantly increase punished responding. Metergoline pretreatment (0.1–2.0 mg/kg, 180 min) had no effect on punished responding itself, and there was no significant alteration of the diazepam dose-response pattern. The weak increase in punished responding by LSD was antagonized by metergoline, but the interaction between metergoline and DOM was variable and inconsistent. Diazepam, quipazine, LSD, and DOM caused dose-dependent decreases in unpunished responding (fluid intake). Metergoline alone decreased unpunished responding only at 2.0 mg/kg. Metergoline pretreatment (1.0 mg/kg) only slightly antagonized the LSD effect on unpunished behavior, but shifted the dose-response curves of DOM and quipazine for decrease in fluid intake to the right approximately eight fold. On the contrary, the dose-response curve of diazepam to decrease fluid intake was shifted to the left by metergoline pretreatment. These data suggest that altered activity of brain serotonin (5-HT) neurons is not responsible for the dramatic increase in punished responding by diazepam. The hallucinogens, quipazine, and diazepam all produce a decrease in unpunished responding, but they appear to do so by different neuropharmacological mechanisms. In addition, there may be at least slight differences in the mechanism by which LSD produces its effects as compared with that of quipazine and DOM.
Progressive perceptually transparent coder for very high quality images

In the perceptually transparent coding of images, we use representation and quantization strategies that exploit properties of human perception to obtain an approximate digital image indistinguishable from the original. This image is then encoded in an error free manner. The resulting coders have better performance than error free coding for a comparable quality. Further, by considering changes to images that do not produce perceptible distortion, we identify image characteristics onerous for the encoder, but perceptually unimportant. Once such characteristic is the typical noise level, often imperceptible, encountered in still images. Thus, we consider adaptive noise removal to improve coder performance, without perceptible degradation of quality. In this paper, several elements contribute to coding efficiency while preserving image quality: adaptive noise removal, additive decomposition of the image with a high activity remainder, coarse quantization of the remainder, progressive representation of the remainder, using bilinear or directional interpolation methods, and efficient encoding of the sparse remainder. The overall coding performance improvement due to noise removal and the use of a progressive code is about 18%, as compared to our previous results for perceptually transparent coders. The compression ratio for a set of nine test images is 3.72 for no perceptible loss of quality.
Focal pair merging for contrast enhancement of single particles

A common technique in transmission electron microscopy is the collection of a focal pair, in which the first, close to focus image contains higher resolution information at lower contrast, and the second, far from focus image has high contrast but less reliable high-resolution information. Typically these second micrographs are used for purposes of particle selection, orientation estimate or micrograph evaluation. We introduce a technique for merging the information from both images, including signal to noise ratio weighting, contrast transfer function correction, and optional Weiner filtration. This produces a composite image with reduced contrast transfer function artifacts and optimized contrast. This technique is useful in numerous cases where low-contrast images are produced, such as small particles, proteins solubilized in detergent or projects with high-resolution goals when the first image is taken very close to focus.
Synthesis and nonlinear optical properties of some substituted ruthenium(II) η5-cyclopentadienyl η5- or η6-arene salts

Treatment of a suspension of AgBF4 in absolute methanol with a solution of η5-C5H5Ru(PPh3)3Cl (1) and an arene gives [(η5- or η6-arene)Ru(η5-C5H5]BF4; where the η5 or η6-arenes are thiophene (2), nitrobenzene (3), N,N-dimethyl-4-nitroaniline (4), 2-methyl-4-nitroaniline (5) and N-(4-nitrophenyl)(l)-prolinol (6). The relative efficiency of second-harmonic generation (1064 nm→532 nm) for compounds (1–6) is 0.7 to 1.0 × urea.
Microwave aperture antennas and diffraction theory.

Various studies of diffraction of electromagnetic waves motivated by and applied to work on microwave aperture antennas are reviewed in relation to their significance to the study of optics. A critique of the Kirchhoff formula is presented to show the essentially heuristic nature of the formula and its range of applicability. Other approaches to high-frequency approximations for diffraction problems are indicated together with various experimental results showing the structure of the electromagnetic field in the neighborhood of the aperture or scatterer. The results illustrate how studies in the microwave region have enlarged the scope of optics and provide a rich body of material for teaching the subject of diffraction in physical optics.
Hormones and mammary carcinogenesis in mice, rats, and humans: a unifying hypothesis.

Abstract An attempt has been made to put forward a unifying hypothesis explaining the role hormones play in the genesis of mammary cancers of different phenotypes and genotypes in mice, rats, and humans. Most mammary cancers in these species originate in luminal mammary epithelial cells lining the mammary ducts and alveoli. These cancers are histopathologically diverse and are classified on the basis of growth requirements as hormone-dependent or hormone-independent tumors. In most strains of mice, mammary cancers at the time of detection are largely of the hormone-independent type; in rats, almost all mammary cancers are hormone-dependent, while humans have both phenotypes. In spite of these differences, in vivo studies show that hormones (ovarian and pituitary) are essential for luminal mammary epithelial cell proliferation and also for the development of mammary cancers of both hormone-independent and hormone-dependent types. This article, based on our extensive in vivo and in vivo studies and on current literature, proposes a model to explain the central role of hormones in the genesis of all types of mammary cancers. The model attempts to address the following questions: (i) how hormones regulate luminal mammary epithelial cell proliferation, (ii) why hormones are required for the genesis of mammary cancers of all phenotypes and genotypes, including those which are always classified as hormone-independent tumors, and (iii) why the three species (mouse, rat, and human) have consistently different ratios of hormone-dependent to hormone-independent tumors.
Establishing stability for the mandibular complete denture

Abstract The polished surface of the lower denture greatly influences its stability due to the adaptation to the tongue, lips, and cheeks. The lower teeth must be placed in harmony with these structures. The correct forms of the most important parts of the lower denture base are described.
An event-driven approach for agent-based business process enactment

Agents enacting business processes in large open environments need to adaptively accommodate exceptions. Work on multiagent approaches can flexibly model business processes. This paper proposes an event-driven architecture that enriches such models with events resulting in a more robust and proactive system. Specifically, we place this architecture in a business process framework based on protocols and policies, where agents' behaviors are specified via rules. The contributions of this paper include (1) an event-driven architecture, (2) a specification language that combines event logic with rules and (3) a methodology to incorporate events into a process (such as for fine-grained monitoring), (4) a way to manage subscriptions to simple events efficiently. This approach is applied on a well-known business scenario.
Treatment for Ejaculatory Dysfunction in Men With Spinal Cord Injury: An 18-Year Single Center Experience

Purpose: In what is to our knowledge the largest study of its kind to date we retrospectively reviewed the records of 3,152 semen retrieval procedures in a total of 500 men with spinal cord injury to make recommendations to the medical field on ejaculatory dysfunction treatment in this specialized patient population.Materials and Methods: We retrospectively studied data from 1991 to 2009 in the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis male fertility research program at our institution. We assessed the semen retrieval success rate and semen quality.Results: Of the 500 men 9% could ejaculate by masturbation. Penile vibratory stimulation was successful in 86% of patients with a T10 or rostral injury level. Electroejaculation was successful in most cases of failed penile vibratory stimulation. Sperm were obtained without surgical sperm retrieval, in 97% of patients completing the treatment algorithm. Total motile sperm counts exceeded 5 million in 63% of cases.Conclusions: Sperm can be easily obtained nonsurgically fr...
Coupled Lactic Acid Fermentation and Adsorption

Polyvinylpyridine (PVP) and activated carbon were evaluated for coupled lactic acid fermentation and adsorption, to prevent the product concentration from reaching inhibitory levels. The lactic acid production doubled as a result of periodical circulation of the fermentation broth through a PVP adsorption column. The adsorbent was then regenerated and the adsorbed lactate harvested, by passing 0.1 N NaOH through the column. However, each adsorption–regeneration cycle caused about 14% loss of the adsorption capacity, thus limiting the practical use of this rather expensive adsorbent. Activated carbon was found much more effective than PVP in lactic acid and lactate adsorption. The cells of Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. delbrueckii (LDD) also had strong tendency to adsorb on the carbon. A study was therefore conducted using an activated carbon column for simultaneous cell immobilization and lactate adsorption, in a semi-batch process with periodical medium replacement. The process produced lactate steadily at about 1.3 g l–1 h–1 when the replacement medium contained at least 2 g l–1 of yeast extract. The production, however, stopped after switching to a medium without yeast extract. Active lactic acid production by LDD appeared to require yeast extract above a certain critical level (<2 g l–1).
1,2,2‐Trifluorovinyl phenyl ether and 2,3,4,5,6‐pentafluorophenyl 1,2,2‐trifluorovinyl ether and their polymers

1,2,2,-Trifluorovinyl phenyl ether and 2,3,4,5,6,-pentafluorophenyl 1,2,2-trifluorovinyl ethers have been prepared, and the nucleophilic reactions of the phenoxide and 2,3,4,5-pentafluorophenoxide salts with tetrafluoroethylene have been investigated. In general, it is some-what difficult to control the reaction so as to produce the desired olefinic monomer. Under truly anhydrous conditions and when other sources of active protons are avoided, the olefin is the chief product if excess tetrafluoroethylene is used. The monomer produced is very reactive with phenoxide ions, and the diphenoxyolefins are the chief secondary products. Both monomers failed to polymerize under normal, free radical conditions. With boron trifluoride an oily material was obtained from the trifluorovinyl phenyl ether. High pressure and gamma rays converted both monomers into polymers.
Tissue Engineering of Skin

The skin plays a crucial role in protecting the integrity of the body's internal milieu. The loss of this largest organ is incompatible with sustained life. In reconstructive surgery or burn management, substitution of the skin is often necessary. In addition to traditional approaches such as split- or full-thickness skin grafts, tissue flaps and free-tissue transfers, skin bioengineering in vitro or in vivo has been developing over the past decades. It applies the principles and methods of both engineering and life sciences toward the development of substitutes to restore and maintain skin structure and function. Currently, these methods are valuable alternatives or complements to other techniques in reconstructive surgery. This review article deals with the evolution and current approaches to the development of in vitro and in vivo epidermis and dermis.
A zero-inflated Poisson model of migration frequency.

"This paper shows that the frequency of migration can be best modeled by a zero-inflated Poisson process, because it takes into account the overwhelming presence of zeros (nonmigrants) in the data. A failure to do so can cause the coefficients to be biased and also result in poor prediction. The major finding is that by using a zero-inflated process, the performance of the model in predicting migration behavior is substantially improved. In addition, frequent movers tend to be white, nonunionized, and tend to have fewer children, less stable marriages, and more frequent occupational changes." Data are for the United States for the years 1977 to 1987 and are taken from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics.
MRI steatosis grading: development and initial validation of a color mapping system.

OBJECTIVE. The purpose of this article is to develop and validate a chemical-shift imaging–derived color mapping system for evaluation of liver steatosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS. Opposed phase MRI was evaluated for 85 subjects (51 with presumed nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and 34 healthy volunteers). Liver signal intensity loss was compared with histologic analysis for 52 subjects, assuming grade 0 steatosis for healthy volunteers, to determine signal-intensity-loss threshold points differentiating steatosis grades and subsequent Spearman correlation. Color scale grading was then applied for 78 subjects. Interpretation of color maps for steatosis severity and heterogeneity was performed by three readers. Analyses of agreement among readers and of color map steatosis grade with biopsy were performed using weighted kappa values. RESULTS. The numbers of subjects with steatosis grades 0, 1, 2, and 3 were 41, 12, 13, and 19, respectively. A correlation of 0.90 was obtained using selected threshold values of...
A Review of Environmental Influences on Food Choices

Background Diet-related environmental and policy interventions are being advocated at a population level because individual change is more likely to be facilitated and sustained if the environment within which choices are made supports healthful food options.
NONPARAMETRIC TESTS OF DENSITY RATIO ORDERING

We study a family of nonparametric tests of density ratio ordering between two continuous probability distributions on the real line. Density ratio ordering is satisfied when the two distributions admit a nonincreasing density ratio. Equivalently, density ratio ordering is satisfied when the ordinal dominance curve associated with the two distributions is concave. To test this property, we consider statistics based on the L p -distance between an empirical ordinal dominance curve and its least concave majorant. We derive the limit distribution of these statistics when density ratio ordering is satisfied. Further, we establish that, when 1 ≤ p ≤ 2, the limit distribution is stochastically largest when the two distributions are equal. When 2 < p ≤∞ , this is not the case, and in fact the limit distribution diverges to infinity along a suitably chosen sequence of concave ordinal dominance curves. Our results serve to clarify, extend, and amend assertions appearing previously in the literature for the cases p = 1 and p =∞ . We provide numerical evidence confirming their relevance in finite samples.
Empirically generated metric spaces for ATR in clutter

One of the central problems in automated target recognition is to accommodate the infinite variety of clutter in real military environments. Our principle focus is to construct a metric space where the metric measures the distance between objects of interest invariant to the infinite variety of clutter. Such metrics are formulated using second-order random field models.
Data collection by the people, for the people

Data Collection by the People, for the People is a CHI 2011 workshop to explore data from the crowd, bringing together mobile crowdsourcing & participatory urbanism researchers with data analysis and visualization researchers. The workshop is two-day event beginning with day of field work in the city of Vancouver, trying out mobile crowdsourcing applications and data analysis tools. Participants are encouraged to contribute applications and tools which they wish to share. Our goal is to provoke discussion and brainstorming, enabling both data collection researchers and data manipulationanalysis researchers to benefit from mutually learned lessons about crowdsourced data.
Streptococcus pneumoniae Forms Surface-Attached Communities in the Middle Ear of Experimentally Infected Chinchillas

Background Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcus) causes respiratory and systemic infections that are a major public health problem worldwide. It has been postulated that pneumococci persist in vivo in biofilm communities. Methods In this study, we analyzed whether pneumococci form biofilms in vivo, and if so, whether biofilms correlated with bacterial persistence. Chinchillas were infected with S. pneumoniae TIGR4 and euthanized at varying times after infection, after which the superior ear bullae were excised and examined by culture and microscopy. Results Dense material, resembling the biofilms of other otitis media pathogens, was visible in the middle ear as late as 12 days after infection. Scanning electron microscopy revealed bacteria within an electron-dense matrix, similar to pneumococcal biofilms formed in vitro. Viability staining revealed groups of viable diplococci, as well as viable and nonviable host cells, attached to a fibrous matrix that was positive when stained with propidium iodide. Cryosections of biofilms were treated with polyclonal antibodies against the pneumococcal surface components pneumococcal surface protein A family 2, pneumococcal surface protein C, choline-binding protein, and neuraminidase, coupled with appropriate secondary antibody conjugates. Immunofluorescent staining showed the presence of pneumococcal communities within the material recovered from the middle ear chamber. Conclusions On the basis of these data, we conclude that pneumococci form biofilms in vivo and that this process may be intertwined with the formation of neutrophil extracellular traps. These findings provide new insights into the potential causes of antibiotic treatment failure and bacterial persistence in chronic pneumococcal otitis media.
Interoceptive cortex in the posterior insula: comment on Garcia-Larrea et al. 2010 Brain 133, 2528.

ARTICLE Sir, In a recent publication in Brain , Garcia-Larrea et al . (2010) reported their identification of patients with post-stroke central pain and selective thermosensory dysfunction, but without other somatosensory abnormalities, and they suggested that the basis for such dissociated symptoms might be the presence of a ‘third somatosensory area’ specifically supporting temperature sensation in the operculo-insular region. In actuality, prior findings, which they did not cite, provide solid neurobiological evidence that the dorsal posterior insula contains the primary cortical sensory representation of temperature and pain in humans; indeed, these previous findings explain perfectly well these and other clinical observations by Garcia-Larrea and colleagues. In a carefully designed positron emission tomography study (Craig et al ., 2000), my colleagues and I examined cerebral activation associated with six different innocuous cool temperatures applied to the hand of awake human subjects, and by performing a regression analysis against stimulus temperature across scans, we obtained clear and unequivocal evidence that the only site in the contralateral cortex with activity directly (linearly) related to stimulus temperature was in the dorsal posterior insula (Fig. 1). We …
CH3OH oxidation over well-defined supported V2O5/Al2O3 catalysts: Influence of vanadium oxide loading and surface vanadium–oxygen functionalities

A series of supported V2O5/Al2O3 catalysts were synthesized by incipient wetness impregnation with vanadium isopropoxide in isopropanol solutions and subsequent calcination. The vanadium surface density was varied from 0.3 to 11.4 V atoms/nm2 spanning the sub-monolayer and above-monolayer regions. The resulting supported vanadium oxide catalysts were physically characterized with in situ Raman spectroscopy and chemically probed by CH3OH TPSR and steady-state methanol oxidation. The Raman characterization under dehydrated conditions revealed that the supported vanadium oxide catalysts contained only surface vanadia species below monolayer coverage (100% dispersed) and both surface vanadia species and crystalline V2O5 nanoparticles (NPs) above monolayer coverage. The CH3OH oxidative dehydrogenation kinetic parameters were found to be independent of the surface bridging VOV bond concentration (polymerization extent), surface VO bond length/strength, vanadium surface density on the alumina support, surface acidity, and surface vanadia reduction characteristics during H2-TPR. The crystalline V2O5 NPs above monolayer coverage were relatively inactive and served only to decrease the number of exposed catalytic active surface vanadia sites by covering them.
Exploring the Implications of Virtual Human Research for Human-Robot Teams

This article briefly explores potential synergies between the fields of virtual human and human-robot interaction research. We consider challenges in advancing the effectiveness of human-robot teams makes recommendations for enhancing this by facilitating synergies between robotics and virtual human research.
Composite Terfenol-D sonar transducers

A sonar transducer, 28 mm in diameter and 40 mm long, has been built using composite Terfenol-D, consisting of grains of Terfenol-D embedded in an epoxy and magnetically aligned while the epoxy is setting. The transducer has been tested in air, where it has a resonant frequency of 18 kHz, and Q equals 18 at low amplitudes. In water it is expected to have Q equals 4.5, an acoustic output power of 48 watts, a power efficiency of 32 percent, and a maximum duty cycle of 6 percent. Surprisingly, hysteresis losses appear to be negligible when the bias field is greater than 800 oersteds, and 90 percent of the power dissipation is due to eddy currents, with 10 percent due to ohmic losses in the coil. The anomalously high eddy currents, still much lower than in monolithic Terfenol-D, can be understood in terms of the arrangement of Terfenol-D grains in the composite. At this time we have no explanation for the anomalously low hysteresis loss. It should be possible to greatly reduce the eddy currents, increasing the power efficiency to 76 percent, the output power to 69 watts, and the maximum duty cycle to 60 percent. Composite Terfenol-D should be superior to both monolithic Terfenol-D and PZT in transducers for sonar arrays operating in the 20 to 30 kHz range.
Energy absorption and dissipation in quantum systems

Stemming from the time-dependent Schrodinger equation, it is noted that any Hermitian form representing work done on a system yields a bounded expectation of energy. This expectation can be periodic, quasiperiodic or even chaotic. Such boundedness is unrealistic because energy may be added to or removed from the system. Thus, a complex non-Hermitian form is introduced into the Hamiltonian of a system which, when positive represents work being done on the system and gives an increasing energy expectation, and when negative represents a dissipation of energy from the system and gives a decreasing energy expectation. Two cases are studied. In the first, the perturbative term is purely time-dependent. In the second, it is also space-dependent. This latter case is applied to the kicked quantum rotor. A number of other applications of this formalism to systems of experimental and theoretical interest are noted.
Blood conservation in the critically ill.

Purpose. Anemia of critical illness is common among intensive care unit patients. A blood management pilot program was initiated to study the pharmacodynamic response of epoetin alfa in critically ill patients and assess the impact of the use of a standardized order set of pharmaceuticals, including epoetin alfa and intravenous iron sucrose, on the quantity of red blood cell units transfused in the adult intensive care unit. Summary. A pre-printed order set was developed which included baseline and follow-up laboratory monitoring and pharmaceutical options for iron, either intravenous and/or oral, folic acid, ascorbic acid, cyancobalamin, and weight-based epoietin alfa. Laboratory studies included: hemoglobin/hematocrit, reticulocyte count, absolute reticulocyte count, immature reticulocyte fraction obtained at baseline, and on day three and day five; in addition, iron, total iron binding capacity, transferrin saturation, and ferritin were obtained at baseline and on day five. An average hemoglobin response of 0.8 g/dL five days after administration of epoetin alfa was demonstrated in a diverse population of critically ill patients. Patients who received intravenous iron did not have a difference in mortality as compared to those patients who did not receive intravenous iron; however, there was a significantly longer length of stay. The cost of epoetin alfa was $64,000 over 10 months (approximately 8–10 patients/month). Transfusions of RBCs in adult intensive care unit decreased over the initial five months of the pilot study. Conclusion. Use of erythropoiesis stimulating agents (ESAs) in the critically ill is controversial. Implementing a standardized approach in the pharmaceutical management of anemia in the critically ill patient is possible. Limitations with the order set and standardized protocol included errors in selection of dose/weight, incomplete laboratory/monitoring, and inconsistent prospective/concurrent review to guide therapy. The determination of the cost-effectiveness of epoetin alfa therapy in anemia of critical illness was not the purpose of this project, but will be the focus of future studies.
Internally Generated Cell Assembly Sequences in the Rat Hippocampus

A long-standing conjecture in neuroscience is that aspects of cognition depend on the brain's ability to self-generate sequential neuronal activity. We found that reliably and continually changing cell assemblies in the rat hippocampus appeared not only during spatial navigation but also in the absence of changing environmental or body-derived inputs. During the delay period of a memory task, each moment in time was characterized by the activity of a particular assembly of neurons. Identical initial conditions triggered a similar assembly sequence, whereas different conditions gave rise to different sequences, thereby predicting behavioral choices, including errors. Such sequences were not formed in control (nonmemory) tasks. We hypothesize that neuronal representations, evolved for encoding distance in spatial navigation, also support episodic recall and the planning of action sequences.
Cheatgrass die-offs as an opportunity for restoration in the Great Basin, USA: Will local or commercial native plants succeed where exotic invaders fail?

Abstract Bromus tectorum (cheatgrass) has widely invaded the Great Basin, U.S.A. The sporadic natural phenomenon of complete stand failure (‘die-off’) of this invader may present opportunities to restore native plants. A recent die-off in Nevada was precision-planted with seeds of the native grasses Poa secunda (Sandberg bluegrass) and Elymus elymoides (bottlebrush squirreltail), of both local and nonlocal origin, to ask: 1) Can native species be restored in recent B. tectorum die-offs? And 2) Do local and nonlocal seeds differ in performance? Additionally, we asked how litter removal and water addition affected responses. Although emergence and growth of native seeds was lower in die-off than control plots early in year one, in year two, seedlings in die-offs had increased vigor and growth, at equal or higher densities, than control plots. Local seeds consistently outperformed nonlocal seeds for P. secunda , whereas for E. elymoides, nonlocal showed an advantage in the first season, but in the second season, there were more local seeds present under die-off and unraked conditions. Seedbed treatments affected performance, but did not notably improve establishment or modify other results. Our results warrant further investigation into die-off restoration as well as recognition of the importance of seed source selection in restoration.
Tempestites recorded as variable Pentamerus layers in the Lower Silurian of southern Norway

The brachiopod Pentamerus oblongus is especially abundant in the Lower Silurian RytterAker Formation, which occurs widely throughout the Oslo region in southern Norway. Alternating thin limestones and shales typically occur in a shallowing-upward sequence ending in a massive grainstone often rich in tabulate corals and stromatoporoids. In the lower beds, colonization by pentamerid populations was enhanched by prior emplacement of an orthotetacean shell pavement over the clastic sea bed. Individual Pentamerus size decreases with increasing disturbance of populations or their fragmentation as lag deposits nearer the stratigraphic level of the massive grainstone. The frequency of specific storm events and the changing depth to the sea bed may be indexed according to the average size of pentamerid shells in a given population and the degree to which the population is disturbed. Preservation of prominent growth lines (assumed to be annual) suggests storms stirred the sea bed in deeper waters on an 8-10 year cycle. In shallower waters, storms more regularly disturbed the sea bed every 2-3 years. These data corroborate the interpretation that the Pentamerus community inhabited marine waters below fair-weather wave base, but still within reach of storm wave base.
Simultaneous measurement of 3D zooplankton trajectories and surrounding fluid velocity field in complex flows

We describe an automated, volumetric particle image velocimetry (PIV) and tracking method that measures time-resolved, 3D zooplankton trajectories and surrounding volumetric fluid velocity fields simultaneously and non-intrusively. The method is demonstrated for groups of copepods flowing past a wall-mounted cylinder. We show that copepods execute escape responses when subjected to a strain rate threshold upstream of a cylinder, but the same threshold range elicits no escape responses in the turbulent wake downstream. The method was also used to document the instantaneous slip velocity of zooplankton and the resulting differences in trajectory between zooplankton and non-inertial fluid particles in the unsteady wake flow, showing the method's capability to quantify drift for both passive and motile organisms in turbulent environments. Applications of the method extend to any group of organisms interacting with the surrounding fluid environment, where organism location, larger-scale eddies and smaller-scale fluid deformation rates can all be tracked and analyzed.
Discontinuity and Local Singularity

In this chapter, a general theory for the passability of a flow to a specific boundary in discontinuous dynamical systems will be discussed. The concepts of real and imaginary flows will be introduced. The G-functions for discontinuous dynamical systems will be presented to describe the passability of a flow to the boundary. Based on the G-function, the passability of a flow from a domain to an adjacent one will be discussed. With the concepts of real and imaginary flows, the full- and half-sink and source flows to the boundary will be discussed as well. A flow to the boundary in a discontinuous dynamical system can be passable or non-passable. Thus, all possible switching bifurcations between the passable and non-passable flows will be presented.
Pain classification following spinal cord injury: the utility of verbal descriptors.

Objectives: To determine the predictive utility of verbal descriptors to distinguish between pain types following spinal cord injury (SCI). Design: Cross-sectional. Setting: USA. Methods: Participants (n=29) completed the Short Form – McGill Pain Questionnaire (SF-MPQ) for each pain site reported. A total of 64 pain sites were reported with 80% of the sample reporting multiple pain sites. Each pain site was categorized using three different SCI pain classification schemes. The predictive utility of verbal descriptors to distinguish between pain types was examined statistically using (1) each word separately, (2) a combination of words (ie, the SF-MPQ total subscales, the number of words chosen on each scale), and (3) discriminant function analysis. Results: There was a substantial overlap in the use of verbal descriptors across pain types. Few differences across pain types were found for endorsement of individual words, and differences across pain types were not found for any of the word combination scores. The majority of the verbal descriptors did not enter the step-wise discriminant functions for each SCI pain classification scheme, however, ‘tingling’ and ‘aching’ showed modest predictive utility for neuropathic and musculoskeletal pain, respectively. Correct classification was in the low range (ie, 39% to 82%, average=60%, with a 33% chance level). All three pain classification schemes showed the same general pattern of results. Conclusion: In general, verbal descriptors alone offered marginal utility with regard to identifying specific pain types following SCI. Future directions alone and implications are discussed.
Comparative Solubilities of Sulfadiazine, Sulfamerizine and Sulfamethazine and Their N4-Acetyl Derivatives at Varying pH Levels

SummaryComparative data are presented on the solubilities of sulfadiazine, sulfamerizine and sulfamethazine and their N4-aeetyl derivatives in buffer solutions at varying pH levels within the physiological range of urinary pH. The findings have been discussed briefly in reference to their possible bearing on renal complications from therapy with these drugs.