cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Concepts and implementation of parallel finite element analysis

Abstract The design of complex engineering systems such as advanced aircraft structures and offshore platforms requires continually increasing levels of detail in supporting analysis. The finite element method is widely used as a computational method with which to model physical systems in various engineering problems. For detailed analyses of complex designs, structural models composed of several thousands of degrees of freedom are no longer uncommon. Such design activities require large order finite element and/or finite difference models and excessive computation demands in both calculation speed and information management. The computer simulation of the nonlinear dynamic response of structures and the implementation of parallel FEM systems on a high speed multiprocessor have received considerable attention in recent years. The driving forces of these activities included the reliable simulation of automotive and aircraft crash phenomena, and the increased performance of computers. Most existing major structural analysis software systems were designed 10–20 years ago and have been optimized for current sequential computers. Such systems often are not well structured to take maximum advantage of the recent and continuing revolution in parallel vector computing capabilities. These parallel vector computer architectures not only occur in the form of large supercomputers, but are now also occurring for minicomputers and even engineering workstations. To benefit from advances in parallel computers, software must be developed which takes maximum advantage of the parallel processing feature.
A new lack of twist for the Judkins left coronary catheter.

We have developed a modified Judkins left coronary arteriography catheter. The catheter is fabricated from 7 French thin-walled tubing made of extruded polyethylene. This tubing has a larger lumen diameter than either the 7 French or 8 French torque-control tubings used for standard Judkins coronary arteriography catheters. The large lumen substantially improves the pressure-flow characteristics of the catheter. Accordingly, it is considerably easier to inject contrast medium through this tubing. Although this tubing has no torslonal rigidity, the lack of torque-control has proved to be an advantage rather than a detriment in the use of the catheter. Based on an experience of over 2,000 studies with this catheter, we feel that it is superior to standard torque-control catheters for left coronary anglograms.
Expression and Characterization of Pea Chloroplastic Glyceraldehyde-3-Phosphate Dehydrogenase Composed of Only the B-Subunit

A cDNA fragment coding for the pea (Pisum sativum L.) chloroplastic glyceraldehyde-3-P dehydrogenase (EC 1.2.1.13) B-subunit and a truncated form corresponding in length to the A-subunit have been cloned into an expression vector, expressed in the absence of the A-subunit in a gap- Escherichia coli strain, purified, and studied. Like the isolated enzyme from higher plant chloroplasts, the recombinant enzymes have dual specificity for NADPH and NADH. The recombinant glyceraldehyde-3-P dehydrogenases have the same optimal pH as the enzyme isolated from pea chloroplasts. Like the native chloroplast enzyme, the recombinant B-subunit has a marked tendency to form large aggregates, whereas the truncated B-subunit exists as the tetramer. The recombinant B-subunit glyceraldehyde 3-P dehydrogenase is more sensitive to dithiothreitol than its truncated form. It seems likely that a different pair of cysteines is responsible for the redox sensitivity of the activity of the enzyme composed of B-subunits than the cysteine residues implicated in the modulation of the activity of the enzyme composed of A-subunits by previous work in this laboratory.
Enzymes of transmitter and energy metabolism in rat middle ear and extraocular muscles

To further investigate the peculiar characteristics of the middle ear and extraocular muscles, compared to the extensively studied skeletal muscles of the limbs, activities of enzymes of transmitter and energy metabolism were measured in homogenates of these muscles from albino and pigmented rats. These activities were compared to those for a masticatory muscle and for three hindlimb muscles chosen for their preponderance of either slow oxidative, fast glycolytic, or fast oxidative glycolytic fibers. Activities of the neuromuscular transmitter enzymes choline acetyltransferase and acetylcholinesterase were relatively very high in the extraocular and middle ear muscles. The activity of malate dehydrogenase, an enzyme of oxidative energy metabolism, was as high in the extraocular, masticatory and stapedius muscles as in the oxidative hindlimb muscles, but was lower in tensor tympani. The activity of lactate dehydrogenase, an enzyme of glycolytic energy metabolism, was remarkably low in both middle ear muscles. The results are consistent with high innervation density in the extraocular and middle ear muscles, and highly oxidative metabolism in the extraocular and stapedius muscles. Metabolic differences between the stapedius and tensor tympani suggest a relatively more active role for the former in the function of the rat middle ear.
Estimating the upper limit of gas production from Class 2 hydrate accumulations in the permafrost: 2. Alternative well designs and sensitivity analysis

In the second paper of this series, we evaluate two additional well designs for production from permafrost-associated (PA) hydrate deposits. Both designs are within the capabilities of conventional technology. We determine that large volumes of gas can be produced at high rates (several MMSCFD) for long times using either well design. The production approach involves initial fluid withdrawal from the water zone underneath the hydrate-bearing layer (HBL). The production process follows a cyclical pattern, with each cycle composed of two stages: a long stage (months to years) of increasing gas production and decreasing water production, and a short stage (days to weeks) that involves destruction of the secondary hydrate (mainly through warm water injection) that evolves during the first stage, and is followed by a reduction in the fluid withdrawal rate. A well configuration with completion throughout the HBL leads to high production rates, but also the creation of a secondary hydrate barrier around the well that needs to be destroyed regularly by water injection. However, a configuration that initially involves heating of the outer surface of the wellbore and later continuous injection of warm water at low rates (Case C) appears to deliver optimum performance over the period it takes for the exhaustion of the hydrate deposit. Using Case C as the standard, we determine that gas production from PA hydrate deposits increases with the fluid withdrawal rate, the initial hydrate saturation and temperature, and with the formation permeability.
Protection against malevolent use of vehicles at Nuclear Power Plants. Vehicle barrier system siting guidance for blast protection

This manual provides guidance for determining the minimum safe standoff distance between vital safety related equipment and the design basis vehicle bomb threat adopted by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Vital safety related equipment should survive the design basis vehicle bomb attack when the minimum safe standoff distance is provided. Guidance is provided for exposed vital safety related equipment and for equipment housed within vital area barriers. The type of vital area barriers addressed are 12-, 18-, 24-, and 30-inch-thick reinforced concrete slabs with reinforcing ratios of 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, and 1.0 percent.
Experimental analysis of folding in simple shear

Abstract Six experiments of single-layer folding with simple-shear boundary conditions were completed. Using materials of ethyl cellulose, the viscosity ratio of the stiff layer to matrix ranged from 20 to 100. The experiments were monitored by 10–14 photographs taken at equally spaced time intervals. Strain distributions in both the stiff layer and matrix were calculated from the displacements of over 300 ink dots distributed over the surface of each experiment. Both incremental strain (calculated from the relative displacements of the dots between successive photographs) and accumulating strain were determined on the two-dimensional profile of the materials as they folded. Symmetrical fold wavelengths occur and seem to be controlled by the wavelengths of initial perturbations in the stiff layer. If the Biot wavelength was not present initially, it will not occur in the final waveform. Consequently, in a group of natural folds, the mean value of wavelength/thickness ratios apparently reflects the initial perturbations. The mean value should not be confused with the Biot wavelength and should not be used to calculate viscosity ratios in naturally deformed rocks. Substantial layer thickening occurred only with viscosity ratios of 20. The amount of layer thickening also depends on initial perturbations of the stiff layer. If these perturbations are near the Biot wavelength, they are greatly amplified, the folds grow rapidly and layer thickening is small. If the perturbations are not near the Biot wavelength, amplification is small, the folds grow slowly and layer thickening is much greater. Principal elongations of the accumulated strain in the cores of some of the folds are not symmetrically distributed about axial planes and may cut across the axial plane at angles up to 20°. Strain shadows in the matrix, near the convex side of fold hinges, are also prominent. These triangular-shaped regions of low strain are not symmetrically disposed about fold axial planes, in contrast to strain shadows occurring in folds produced under pure-shear boundary conditions. The rotation of accumulating principal elongations in the stiff layer was calculated at fold inflections. Even though the folds themselves are generally symmetrical, these rotations at opposite fold inflections are not. One fold limb exhibits little rotation of principal elongations during folding while the other has rotations up to 70°. In contrast, folds formed in pure-shear boundary conditions have rotations of principal directions on opposite fold limbs equal in magnitude.
Claire Badaracco (Ed.), Quoting God: How Media Shape Ideas About Religion and Culture. Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2005. 317 pages. $34.95 softcover.

Scholarly books on media and religion, although still sparce, are not the oddity they were 2 decades ago. Now, many good, edited volumes of research exist. Methodological approaches and the scope o...
Primate flicker sensitivity: psychophysics and electrophysiology

A quantitative comparison is made between the psychophysical flicker response of man and similar data obtained electrophysiologically from the cones of macaque monkeys. When the psychophysical data are obtained from an eye that is strongly light-adapted, there is excellent agreement between the two sets of data at high frequencies. Under this condition, both kinds of data fit a distributed-parameter model, whose time constant also agrees with that derived from studies of the phosphenes elicited by electrical stimulation of the human eye. On the other hand, psychophysical data obtained with fully modulated stimuli (which minimally adapt the eye) yield a longer time constant for the same model. These results imply that the psychophysical flicker thresholds are normally controlled by a distributed filtering process that is proximal to the receptor stage. This slower, psychophysical process is evidently desensitized by intense adapting lights, so that the faster one that governs the electrophysiological responses can be detected.
Similarity analysis of PAH and PCB bioaccumulation patterns in sediment‐exposed Chironomus tentans larvae

Larvae of the aquatic insect Chironomus tentans (Insecta: Diptera: Chironomidae) were exposed at the third or fourth instar stage to sediments collected near the outfalls of two aluminum foundries and an aluminum fabrication plant. Biota and sediment bioaccumulation factors (BFs), based on wet tissue weights and dry sediment weights, ranged from 0.07 to 0.27 for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and from 0.22 to 1.42 for polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). A higher rate of metabolism of PAHs compared with PCBs could explain the differences in BF values for the two groups of chemicals. It was found, using community similarity procedures from the field of ecology, that the congener patterns for PAHs and PCBs bioaccumulated by the larvae differed from the pattern of the same compounds in the sediments to which they were exposed. Affinity analysis indicated that the larvae favored the higher molecular weight PAH and PCB congeners. Preferential ingestion of sediments with defined particle size ranges, metabolism, and octanol/water partition coefficients (log Kow) are factors that may have influenced the bioaccumulation patterns. However, no single factor could adequately account for the differences between the larval and sediment patterns.
The chemistry of 99mTc-labeled radiopharmaceuticals

The subject of the chemistry of 99m Tc-radiopharmaceuticals consists of a collection of bits and pieces of information without a unifying theme. Since the initial impetus to the field of organ imaging was provided by radiochemists, nuclear chemists, and clinician-investigators, using easily prepared 99m Tc-compounds from available off-the-shelf ligands, complete chemical characterization was not carried for the 99m Tc-radiopharmaceuticals and their metabolites. The influx of coordination, organic, and analytic chemists and their systematic studies clarified some of the structures of these tracers, and promoted the general synthetic methods of a variety of ligands and the corresponding 99m Tc-chelates as well as understanding of the nature of their metabolites. Although major developments for organ-imaging radiopharmaceuticals had been made, future studies will result in the simplified methodology of protein-labeling, fintuning of the currently available radiopharmaceuticals for higher organ-extraction, and replacement of expensive 123 I-labeled tracers with the corresponding 99m Tc-tracers. In general, the Tc-complexes are thermodynamically less stable and kinetically more labile than the corresponding Re-complexes. The well established chemistry of Re-compounds, the similarity of Tc-chemistry to that of Re compounds, and structure-activity relationships of a few classes of 99m Tc-labeled compounds, may promote the development of new generation of 99m Tc-labeled radiopharmaceuticals.
Virtual Space (E-Learning) Faculty Development.

When pioneering new teaching and learning delivery systems, the Mississippi community and junior colleges confronted many unexpected challenges. In this chapter, the authors discuss what the Mississippi Virtual Community College learned regarding the professional development of the faculty.
Organizing a live call-in TV show about computers

A live, call-in television show is an environment conducive for answering quick questions. It also provides user services staff with an opportunity for distributing information quickly to a large audience without relying on the more traditional mechanisms of documentation or online helpThis paper describes the steps that were taken to develop and produce a live, call-in television show. It also provides some background about how local community resources were used for producing the show (the show was produced with no budget), how the television show was broadcast and what the response was to the show. Some recommendations are made for user services personnel who may be interested in replicating the approach described in this paper. The television show described in this paper was made when the author was working for a state-run university in Northwest Indiana.
Attachment strategies across sex, ontogeny, and relationship type

We propose that middle childhood female ambivalent attachment, given the adaptive problem of uncertainty of future investment, is designed to evoke immediate investment from current caregivers, rather than new investment sources. We suggest greater specificity of strategic attachment solutions to adaptive problems that differ by sex, time, and relationship type.
What diagnosis does not tell: The case for a noncategorical approach to chronic illness in childhood

Medical training, practice and research are traditionally organized around body systems and disease categories. There is, however, a disciplinary split over the question of whether the clinical diagnosis is the central issue in describing an individual with an illness. Data from two studies, one institutional and one population based (The Pediatric Ambulatory Care Treatment Study and the National Health Examination Survey--Cycles II and III), are used to test the usefulness of diagnostic groupings in examining correlates of illness. A series of analyses of variance with the diagnostic groupings as the independent variable and a range of psychological, social and educational measures as the dependent variables reveal only the number of significant differences expected by chance. The only area in which a pattern of significant differences is found in the family's interaction with the health care delivery system. These results indicate that there is more variability within diagnostic groupings than between them and suggest that diagnosis is not a helpful categorization in the examination of psychological and social variables. While not surprising to social scientists, these data suggest the need for a major reorientation of the research paradigm when examining the psychological, social, rehabilitative and preventive issues raised by chronic illness in children and families.
A flexible image browsing interface tester: Design, implementation and preliminary results in a face recognition test

This paper describes a software tool for exploring factors that affect image browsing. The tool, which can present images in storyboard or slideshow formats, can easily be configured to change the size of the images, the display rate, and other parameters of interest. Results of a preliminary experiment involving 26 subjects using the slideshow mode support earlier findings and are reported.
Body-Count Journalism: The Presentation of Mass Murder in the News Media

This study analyzes coverage by newspapers, network television news, and newsweekly magazines of mass killings that occurred between 1976 and 1996. The findings indicate that although virtually all...
FPGA-Based Digital Network Analyzer for Digitally Controlled SMPS

This paper presents an FPGA-based digital network analyzer for digitally controlled switched-mode power supplies. Similar to standard network analyzers, the digital network analyzer can be used to validate converter models and the system design. The digital network analyzer can be built into the digital controller, resulting in an accurate measurement of the actual delays and non-idealities in the sampling and digital hardware. In addition, the approach requires relatively little additional hardware and/or software resources and reduces the costs in terms of equipment and engineering efforts. Experimental implementation on an FPGA and examples of 12 V-to-5 V 25 W buck converter open-loop and closed-loop frequency response measurements are shown
On the additive nature of the first‐order interactions at the trifunctional branch points in copolymers of ethylene and a larger 1‐alkene

The characteristic ratio and its temperature coefficient were examined for alternating copolymers of ethylene and propylene. The stereochemical composition covers the entire range from racemic through meso. Two different assignments, τ = 0 and σ, were used for the statistical weight employed when a methylene group participates in simultaneous first-order interactions with another methylene group and a methyl group. The best description of the conformational properties of the alternating copolymers is achieved with the larger value for τ. This assignment is the one that would be expected if the first-order interactions were pair-wise additive.
Strapdown INS/DGPS airborne gravimetry tests in the Gulf of Mexico

Combining data from a Strapdown Inertial Navigation System and a Differential Global Positioning System (SINS/DGPS) has shown great promise in estimating gravity on moving platforms. Previous studies on a ground-vehicle system obtained 1–3 mGal precision with 2 km spatial resolution. High-accuracy Inertial Measurement Units (IMU) and cm-level positioning solutions are very important in obtaining mGal-level gravity disturbance estimates. However, these ideal configurations are not always available or achievable. Because the noise level in the SINS/DGPS gravimetric system generally decreases with an increase of speed and altitude of the platform, the stringent constraints on the IMU and GPS may be relieved in the airborne scenario. This paper presents an investigation of one navigation-grade and one tactical-grade IMU for the possibility of low-cost INS/GPS airborne gravimetry. We use the data collected during the Gravity-Lidar Study of 2006 (GLS06), which contains aerogravity, GPS, and INS along the northern coastline of the Gulf of Mexico. The gravity disturbance estimates from the navigation-grade IMU show 0.5–3.2 mGal precision compared with the onboard gravimeter’s measurements and better than 3 mGal precision compared with the upward continued surface control data. Due to relatively large (240 s) smoothing window, the results have about 34 km along-track resolution. But the gravity estimates from the tactical-grade IMU have much poorer precisions. Nonetheless, useful contributions from the tactical-grade IMU could be extracted for longer wavelengths.
High-intensity, short-term biofeedback in children with Hinman's syndrome (non-neuropathic voiding dyssynergia)

Abstract Objective To evaluate the long-term response to high-intensity, short-term biofeedback in children with severe voiding dysfunction. Patients and methods We retrospectively reviewed patients who underwent short-term, high-intensity biofeedback therapy from 1996 to 2004. Improvement was classified based on clinical and radiographic findings. Patients were categorized as having Hinman's syndrome when, in addition to urinary incontinence, at least four of the following categories were present: sphincter dyssynergia, bladder trabeculation, large post-void residual (PVR), hydronephrosis, vesicoureteral reflux (VUR) and urinary tract infections. There were 14 patients (eight males and six females), 13 of whom had Hinman's syndrome. Age when biofeedback was initiated varied from 5.6 to 12.9 years ( μ = 8.9 ± 2.2). Before biofeedback, all had large PVRs, bladder trabeculation and sphincter dyssynergia. Nine had hydronephrosis and five had VUR. One patient had renal failure. Results Before biofeedback, the mean PVR was 109 ml (25–270 ml); after biofeedback, this decreased to 21 ml (0–150 ml), including two patients who eventually failed treatment. All 14 patients were able to relax their external sphincter and reduce the PVR during biofeedback and on short-term follow up. Long-term follow up ( μ = 59.4 months) in 12 patients established that seven had a durable response with remission of symptoms, reduced PVR and radiographic improvement. In three, symptoms partially recurred over time and two failed treatment completely. Conclusion Short-term, high-intensity biofeedback achieves a durable response in the majority of children with Hinman's syndrome. Long-term follow up is needed to assure compliance.
PI3K/AKT signaling modulates transcriptional expression of EWS/FLI1 through specificity protein 1

Ewing sarcoma (ES) is the second most frequent bone cancer in childhood and is characterized by the presence of the balanced translocation t(11;22)(q24;q12) in more than 85% of cases, generating a dysregulated transcription factor EWS/FLI1. This fusion protein is an essential oncogenic component of ES development which is necessary for tumor cell maintenance and represents an attractive therapeutic target. To search for modulators of EWS/FLI1 activity we screened a library of 153 targeted compounds and identified inhibitors of the PI3K pathway to directly modulate EWS/FLI1 transcription. Surprisingly, treatment of four different ES cell lines with BEZ235 resulted in down regulation of EWS/FLI1 mRNA and protein by ~50% with subsequent modulation of target gene expression. Analysis of the EWS/FLI1 promoter region (-2239/+67) using various deletion constructs identified two 14 bp minimal elements as being important for EWS/FLI1 transcription. We identified SP1 as modulator of EWS/FLI1 gene expression and demonstrated direct binding to one of these regions in the EWS/FLI1 promoter by EMSA and ChIP experiments. These results provide the first insights on the transcriptional regulation of EWS/FLI1, an area that has not been investigated so far, and offer an additional molecular explanation for the known sensitivity of ES cell lines to PI3K inhibition.
On the Atmospheric Responses to Tropical Pacific Heating during the Mature Phase of El Nino

The atmospheric heating and sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies during the mature phase of El Nino are observed to show both eastern and western Pacific anomaly patterns, with positive anomalies in the equatorial eastern/central Pacific and negative anomalies in the off-equatorial western Pacific. The detailed spatial patterns of the heating anomalies differ from the SST anomalies. The heating anomalies are more equatorially confined than the SST anomalies, and maxima of positive and negative heating anomalies are located farther to the west than the SST anomalies. The Gill-Zebiak atmospheric model assumes that the atmospheric initial heating has the same spatial patterns as the SST anomalies. This assumption results in some unrealistic model simulations for El Nino. When the model heating anomaly forcing is modified to resemble the observed heating anomalies during the mature phase of El Nino, the model simulations have been improved to 1) successfully simulate equatorial easterly wind anomalies in the western Pacific, 2) correctly simulate the position of maximum westerly wind anomalies, and 3) reduce unrealistic easterly wind anomalies in the off-equatorial eastern Pacific. This paper shows that off-equatorial western Pacific negative atmospheric heating (or cold SST) anomalies are important in producing equatorial easterly wind anomalies in the western Pacific. These off-equatorial cold SST anomalies in the western Pacific also contribute to equatorial westerly wind anomalies observed in the central Pacific during the mature phase of El Nino. Although off-equatorial cold SST anomalies in the western Pacific are smaller than equatorial positive SST anomalies in the eastern Pacific, they are enough to produce atmospheric responses of comparable magnitude to the equatorial eastern Pacific. This is because the atmospheric mean state is convergent in the western Pacific and divergent in the equatorial eastern Pacific. By either removing the atmospheric mean convergence or removing off-equatorial cold SST anomalies in the western Pacific, the atmospheric responses show no equatorial easterly wind anomalies in the western Pacific. In the Gill-Zebiak model, the mean wind divergence field is an important background state, whereas the mean SST is secondary.
Vigilance and task load: in search of the inverted U

The 'Inverted-U Hypothesis' states that for a given task, there is an optimal level of workload or demand that yields the highest level of performance. A departure in either direction will result in a monotonically lower performance level, hence an inverted-U-shaped relationship between task demand and quality of performance. Most studies to date have failed to demonstrate the left-hand branch of the curve, that is, the regime in which performance presumably rises as load increases. The purpose of this study was to explore whether low-level additional demand on the monitor would result in improved performance. Four groups of subjects performed a visual monitoring task for 48 min, then two of the four groups were given additional tasks, and a third had potentially distracting information on its display. Results indicated that the two groups with additional demand detected more signals than did the control group or the control-plus-distraction group. There were no significant differences in false alarms.
Constraints on the history and topography of the Northeastern Sierra Nevada from a Neogene sedimentary basin in the Reno-Verdi area, Western Nevada

Neogene (Miocene–Pliocene) sedimentary rocks of the northeastern Sierra Nevada were deposited in small basins that formed in response to volcanic and tectonic activity along the eastern margin of the Sierra. These strata record an early phase (ca. 11–10 Ma) of extension and rapid sedimentation of boulder conglomerates and debrites deposited on alluvial fans, followed by fluvio-lacustrine sedimentation and nearby volcanic arc activity but tectonic quiescence, until ∼ 2.6 Ma. The fossil record in these rocks documents a warmer, wetter climate featuring large mammals and lacking the Sierran orographic rain shadow that dominates climate today on the eastern edge of the Sierra. This record of a general lack of paleo-relief across the eastern margin of the Sierra Nevada is consistent with evidence presented elsewhere that there was not a significant topographic barrier between the Pacific Ocean and the interior of the continent east of the Sierra before ∼ 2.6 Ma. However, these sediments do not record an integrated drainage system either to the east into the Great Basin like the modern Truckee River, or to the west across the Sierra like the ancestral Feather and Yuba rivers. The Neogene Reno-Verdi basin was one of several, scattered endorheic (i.e., internally drained) basins occupying this part of the Cascade intra-arc and back-arc area.
Focal adhesion kinase modulates tension signaling to control actin and focal adhesion dynamics

In response to alphabeta1 integrin signaling, transducers such as focal adhesion kinase (FAK) become activated, relaying to specific machineries and triggering distinct cellular responses. By conditionally ablating Fak in skin epidermis and culturing Fak-null keratinocytes, we show that FAK is dispensable for epidermal adhesion and basement membrane assembly, both of which require alphabeta1 integrins. FAK is also dispensible for proliferation/survival in enriched medium. In contrast, FAK functions downstream of alphabeta1 integrin in regulating cytoskeletal dynamics and orchestrating polarized keratinocyte migration out of epidermal explants. Fak-null keratinocytes display an aberrant actin cytoskeleton, which is tightly associated with robust, peripheral focal adhesions and microtubules. We find that without FAK, Src, p190RhoGAP, and PKL-PIX-PAK, localization and/or activation at focal adhesions are impaired, leading to elevated Rho activity, phosphorylation of myosin light chain kinase, and enhanced tensile stress fibers. We show that, together, these FAK-dependent activities are critical to control the turnover of focal adhesions, which is perturbed in the absence of FAK.
Improving Live Sequence Chart to Automata Transformation for Verification

This paper presents a Live Sequence Chart (LSC) to automata transformation algorithm that enables the verification of communication protocol implementations. Using this LSC to automata transformation a communication protocol implementation can be verified using a single verification run as opposed to previous techniques that rely on a three stage verification approach. The novelty and simplicity of the transformation algorithm lies in its placement of accept states in the automata generated from the LSC. We present in detail an example of the transformation as well as the transformation algorithm. Further, we present a detailed analysis and an empirical study comparing the verification strategy to earlier work to show the benefits of the improved transformation algorithm.
Coalition preference as a function of vote commitment in some dictatorial “political convention” situations

The present study proposed that the political convention situation in which one candidate has dictatorial control over the nomination (dictator situation) is not as psychologically uninteresting as it has appeared in previous research. The contact phase of the coalition formation process in three triadic dictator situations was examined. Some support for the prediction that strategy selection would be a function of the level of vote commitment was indicated. In addition, the data suggested that further examination of the dictator situation is warranted.
Non‐Fickian dispersion of groundwater age

[1] We expand the governing equation of groundwater age to account for non-Fickian dispersive fluxes using continuous random walks. Groundwater age is included as an additional (fifth) dimension on which the volumetric mass density of water is distributed and we follow the classical random walk derivation now in five dimensions. The general solution of the random walk recovers the previous conventional model of age when the low-order moments of the transition density functions remain finite at their limits and describes non-Fickian age distributions when the transition densities diverge. Previously published transition densities are then used to show how the added dimension in age affects the governing differential equations. Depending on which transition densities diverge, the resulting models may be nonlocal in time, space, or age and can describe asymptotic or preasymptotic dispersion. A joint distribution function of time and age transitions is developed as a conditional probability and a natural result of this is that time and age must always have identical transition densities. This implies that a transition density defined for age can substitute for a density in time and this has implications for transport model parameter estimation. We present examples of simulated age distributions from a geologically based, heterogeneous domain that exhibit non-Fickian behavior and show that the non-Fickian model provides better descriptions of the distributions than the Fickian model.
Methods for a longitudinal quantitative outcome with a multivariate Gaussian distribution multi-dimensionally censored by therapeutic intervention.

In longitudinal studies, a quantitative outcome (such as blood pressure) may be altered during follow-up by the administration of a non-randomized, non-trial intervention (such as anti-hypertensive medication) that may seriously bias the study results. Current methods mainly address this issue for cross-sectional studies. For longitudinal data, the current methods are either restricted to a specific longitudinal data structure or are valid only under special circumstances. We propose two new methods for estimation of covariate effects on the underlying (untreated) general longitudinal outcomes: a single imputation method employing a modified expectation–maximization (EM)-type algorithm and a multiple imputation (MI) method utilizing a modified Monte Carlo EM-MI algorithm. Each method can be implemented as one-step, two-step, and full-iteration algorithms. They combine the advantages of the current statistical methods while reducing their restrictive assumptions and generalizing them to realistic scenarios. The proposed methods replace intractable numerical integration of a multi-dimensionally censored MVN posterior distribution with a simplified, sufficiently accurate approximation. It is particularly attractive when outcomes reach a plateau after intervention due to various reasons. Methods are studied via simulation and applied to data from the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial/Epidemiology of Diabetes Interventions and Complications study of treatment for type 1 diabetes. Methods proved to be robust to high dimensions, large amounts of censored data, low within-subject correlation, and when subjects receive non-trial intervention to treat the underlying condition only (with high Y), or for treatment in the majority of subjects (with high Y) in combination with prevention for a small fraction of subjects (with normal Y). Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Leveraging the asymmetric sensitivity of eye contact for videoconference

Eye contact is a natural and often essential element in the language of visual communication. Unfortunately, perceiving eye contact is difficult in most video-conferencing systems and hence limits their effectiveness. We conducted experiments to determine how accurately people perceive eye contact. We discovered that the sensitivity to eye contact is asymmetric, in that we are an order of magnitude less sensitive to eye contact when people look below our eyes than when they look to the left, right, or above our eyes. Additional experiments support a theory that people are prone to perceive eye contact, that is, we will think that someone is making eye contact with us unless we are certain that the person is not looking into our eyes. These experimental results suggest parameters for the design of videoconferencing systems. As a demonstration, we were able to construct from commodity components a simple dyadic videoconferencing prototype that supports eye contact
Improvement strategies for molecular targeting: cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitors as radiosensitizers for non-small cell lung cancer

Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) is an enzyme involved in prostaglandin production in pathologic states such as inflammatory processes and cancer. The enzyme is often overexpressed in premalignant lesions and various cancers, including cancer of the lung. Inhibition of this enzyme with selective COX-2 inhibitors was found to enhance tumor response to radiation in preclinical studies, suggesting that these agents can improve the response of various cancers to radiotherapy. On the basis of these preclinical findings, we initiated clinical trials of the combination of celecoxib, a selective COX-2 inhibitor, with radiotherapy in patients with lung cancer. Here we discuss the rationale for using selective COX-2 inhibitors and describe current clinical protocols and the initial findings.
A 10-Yr Climatology Relating the Locations of Reported Tornadoes to the Quadrants of Upper-Level Jet Streaks

Abstract Observations and numerical model simulations associate rising motions below the right-entrance and left-exit quadrants of an upper-level straight jet streak with the development of convection and severe weather. The occurrence of tornadoes in relation to the jet quadrants is investigated for the continental United States for the spring months of 1990–99. Tornadoes occurred primarily within the two exit quadrants, with the left-exit quadrant favored over the right-exit quadrant. While fewer tornadoes were located below the two entrance quadrants, the right-entrance quadrant was favored over the left-entrance quadrant. For those days on which many tornadoes occurred (“outbreak” days), a greater percentage of tornadoes occurred below the left-exit and right-entrance quadrants than for those days on which only a few tornadoes were reported. Composite diagrams are presented to clarify the relationship between the quadrants of a jet streak, severe weather, and synoptic features such as low pressure cen...
Peripheral arterial disease

For the purposes of this chapter, peripheral arterial disease (PAD) refers to the development and progression of atherosclerotic disease in the arteries of the lower extremities. A broader definition of peripheral arterial disease would encompass the aorta and all its major visceral branches (carotid arteries, mesenteric arteries, renal arteries, and extremity arteries). This chapter will not cover therapeutic considerations related to disease in each of these arterial beds.
Surface Topography of Cocondensed Amorphous ZrCo-Alloy Films Investigated in Situ By UHV-STM

Amorphous ZrCo-alloy films, prepared by electron beam deposition in ultra high vacuum (UHV), are investigated in situ with scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) in constant current mode. The topographs, statistically analysed by height-height-correlation functions, show a surface roughness on two different length scales. The surface structures on a larger scale (7.0 to 12.0nm in diameter), which vary with substrate temperature, film composition and film thickness, are discussed in relation to surface tension and diffusion kinetics during film growth. The structures on a smaller scale (0.4 to 0.7nm in diameter) have to be discussed with respect to the limits of atomic resolution.
Pink Bollworm (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae): Effect on Adults of Pupae Stored at 10°C

Pectinophora gossypiella (Saunders) pupae were stored at 10°C for 1 to 5 days and their subsequent eclosion rates, mating, oviposition, and longevity of normal eclosing adult moths were determined. Prediction equations were developed for rates of eclosion and longevity of adult moths. The decrease in normally eclosing moths slightly exceeded 9% per day of exposure. Neither percent nor frequency of mating was affected by exposure periods studied, but egg production was reduced at longer periods of exposure. Male moths lived longer than female moths, but longevity of both sexes decreased similarly. The decline in mean survival of both sexes is estimated to be less than 2 days of longevity per day of pupal exposure.
Complete Proceedings - Single PDF Download

Coastal engineering is one of the many inter-disciplinary fields of professional study and practice which has appeared in recent years on the periphery of the traditional fields; civil engineers, oceanographers, mathematicians, physicists, statisticians, petroleum production engineers and many others participate to some degree in this field which has as its common denominator the phenomena and the physical design problems of the zone where land and ocean meet. The Coastal Engineering Council, formerly the Council on Wave Research of the Engineering Foundation, was organized to promote research and to provide a medium of communication among workers in the field. It became evident after the first conference at Long Beach in 1950 that research in progress was extensive and reasonably well-supported and that the most effective function of the Council would be to sponsor occasional conferences in countries active in coastal studies. The proceedings of these conferences, ably edited by our Secretary, Professor J. W. Johnson, form an encyclopedia of theory, laboratory studies, field observations, design methods, case histories in coastal morphology, and in the lore and knowledge characteristic of an active phase of engineering practice, in which judgment based upon experience plays as large a role in design as theory. All of us who practice in this area owe Professor Johnson much gratitude for his incisive editorial work and his skillful financial management which has made these proceedings so readily available.
The influence of management system on the occurrence of nursing errors

Objective: To explore the influence of management system on the occurrence of nursing errors. Methods: 63 nursing errors which were taken place during the past 6 years were analyzed. Results: The injection errors and errors caused by careless checking had the highest percentage. Conclusion: Nursing managers should put more attention to improve management system, work procedure, work method and nursing material to minimize nursing errors.
Behavioral intervention in hand hygiene of medical staff and relevant study on hospital infections

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the nosocomial infections and the impact of behavior intervention in hand hygiene of medical personnel.METHODS The doctors,nurses,and inspectors in grass-roots hospitals were selected as study subjects.The situation before and after hand hygiene intervention was evaluated through implementation of intervention in hand hygiene.RESULTS Hand hygiene compliance was significantly improved through strengthening the management of hospital infections.CONCLUSION To improve the effect of hand washing of the health care workers is an important measure to control hospital infections,and the intervention in hand hygiene of medical staff is effective and feasible.
RubE: Rule-based methods for extracting product features from online consumer reviews

Abstract Motivated by the role of product features in enabling personalized recommendations and marketing, this research aims to extract product features from online consumer reviews. Previous studies are dominated by statistical-based techniques or focused on subjective features that are associated with opinions. In this research, we propose RubE-unsupervised rule-based methods that extract both subjective and objective features from online consumer reviews. We identify objective features by incorporating part–whole relation and review-specific patterns. We extract subjective feature by extending double propagation with indirect dependency and comparative construction. The experiment results demonstrate that RubE significantly outperforms the state-of-the-art techniques for product feature extraction and is generalizable from search goods to experience goods.
Influence of pregnancy on the hepatic metabolism of parathion

The effect of pregnancy on the hepatic metabolism of parathion was examined. The in vitro rate of hepatic microsomal activation of parathion to paraoxon was significantly reduced in mice at 19 days of gestation when compared to nonpregnant controls. Total hepatic metabolism of parathion was determined during in situ perfusion of livers from pregnant and nonpregnant mice. Levels of parathion, paraoxon, and p-nitro-phenol in the perfusate after 45 min of perfusion did not differ significantly between livers from the pregnant and nonpregnant groups. These data indicate that total hepatic metabolism of these three compounds is not altered in pregnancy despite a decrease in specific activity for parathion activation.
Deviations of the Developmental Process

At this point in history the odds are very great against an actual developmental sequence following the course outlined in the previous chapter. The educators of the children themselves have histories of an imperfect developmental process. The lack of maturity of the educators means that they prefer and tend to insist upon a pattern of relationship with those they teach that is below the adult level. Even when the educator has an adult emotional life, there is still sickness and death and economic disaster and cultural dislocation and a host of other things to disrupt the continuity and stability of the nurturing interpersonal relationship. In our day the supervision of the developmental process is still largely entrusted to the mythical and magical maternal instinct. People experience failure and loss of self-respect in applying for professional help to overcome the inadequacies of their developmental history. All of these conditions mean that very few people reach the level of adulthood. A great many of those who do reach maturity are easily disrupted in this mode of functioning and return to earlier and experientially safer levels of functioning.
Modeling and optimization of TSV for crosstalk mitigation in 3D neuromorphic system

Neuromorphic computing is an emerging technology that describes the biological neural systems and implementation of its electrical model in complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) VLSI system. Three dimensional (3D) integration can be applied in hardware implementation of neuromorphic computing that provides high device interconnection density using fast and energy efficient links with excellent distribution and communication among the neuron layers. In this work, we studied the necessities of neuromorphic computing based on 3D integration technology, design challenges, and a possible solution to overcome the effect of huge parallelism of well-connected synaptic system. Using the force directed optimization algorithm, an optimal interconnect array pattern is identified for a proposed structure that could mitigate significant amount of crosstalk. For the analysis of crosstalk, an electrical model of the optimal array structure is proposed and it has been validated by comparing its simulation results with those extracted from commercial tools. This work can be used as a basis study for successful implementation of next generation 3D neuromorphic computation for high performance application.