cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Regional estimate of nitric oxide emissions following woody encroachment: Linking imaging spectroscopy and field studies

Woody encroachment, a spatially explicit process of land-cover change, is known to affect the biophysical and biogeochemical properties of ecosystems. However, little information is available on the impacts of woody encroachment on N oxide emissions from savanna regions. We combined hyperspectral remote sensing and field measurements to quantify spatial patterns and estimate regional fluxes of soil N oxide emissions as they covary with vegetation cover and soil type across a semiarid rangeland in north Texas. Soil nitric oxide (NO) emissions were highly correlated with Prosopis canopy cover, allowing the extrapolation of NO fluxes from hyperspectral observations of woody cover. NO emissions were highly variable, ranging from 0 to 550 kg NO-N km−2 y−1 across the region, with the lowest emissions from shallow clay soils and highest from deeper upland clay loams. An estimate of annual NO emissions based on remotely derived Prosopis cover, temperature, and precipitation was 160 kg NO-N km−2 y−1, almost twice that of the value derived from traditional averaging of field measurements. We conclude that relationships between NO emissions and remotely sensed structure and composition are advantageous for quantifying NO emissions at the regional scale. This study also provides new insight into the role of woody encroachment on biogeochemical processes that are highly variable and otherwise difficult to measure at the regional scale.
Effect of Psilocybin, LSD, and mescaline on small, involuntary eye movements.

The influence of Psilocybin, LSD, mescaline, or alcohol on physiological nystagmus was investigated. Eleven hundred eye-movement records served as control data. In 242 sessions, a significant, dose dependent increase in frequency and, to some extent, amplitude of saccades was found after the oral administration of 10–15 mg of Psilocybin, 120μg of LSD, or 450 mg of mescaline. These three drugs produced a characteristic square-wave pattern of saccades distinctively dissimilar from the saw-tooth pattern produced by alcohol. There was no difference between the control and placebo patterns. The recording of physiological nystagmus may provide a valuable biological parameter for studying the effects of various drugs.
Through thick and thin: Marine and meteoric ice in a “Snowball Earth” climate

[1] Marine ice cover in the frigid Neoproterozoic climate system tends to isolate the ocean: the thickness of this ice, and thus the degree of isolation, is an important unknown in geochemical and biological arguments regarding the fully-glaciated “Snowball Earth” hypothesis. The Pollard and Kasting (2005) coupled atmosphere/ice model has been modified to track ice of marine and atmospheric origin separately, and model their different optical properties. In contrast to Pollard and Kasting's results, a tropical region of thin ice is not stable in this model: ice is hundreds of meters thick everywhere. The overall pattern of the hydrological cycle in a Snowball climate is also discussed.
Effect of doxazosin or atenolol on exercise performance in physically active, hypertensive men

The effects of doxazosin or atenolol on exercise capacity in 15 male distance runners (meanage ± SD 43 ± 10 years) were compared in a double-blind, crossover study. Subjects performed a maximal treadmill test and a timed 2-mile run before and after each drug treatment. Cardiac output was determined by acetylene rebreathing at rest and at 30%, 50%, and 75% of maximal oxygen consumption. Oxygen consumption was determined at the above-mentioned workloads and at maximal effort. Both drugs were titrated to produce similar reductions in blood pressure and the final doses of atenolol and doxazosin were 43 ± 22 and 6 ± 6 mg, respectively. Atenolol reduced cardiac output (p <0.05) and heart rate (p <0.001) at rest and at all exercise intensities compared with the prior placebo phase, whereas doxazosin increased cardiac output at rest and at 50% effort (p <0.05). Consequently, cardiac output was higher (p <0.01) with doxazosin than with atenolol at rest and at 30% and 50% effort. Heart rate was higher with doxazosin (p <0.01) during all exercise workloads. Despite these changes in cardiovascular function, there were no significant differences between the effect of the 2 study drugs on maximal oxygen consumption or 2-mile run times. We conclude that atenolol decreases rest and exercise heart rate and cardiac output compared with doxazosin, but that at modest doses neither drug adversely affects exercise performance in male hypertensive runners.
New Technologies Personalize Diagnostics and Therapeutics

Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in industrialized societies [10]. Efforts to reduce cardiovascular events in “high-risk” individuals or recurrent events in patients with established atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease emphasize broad-based implementation of guideline-directed therapeutic lifestyle changes and pharmacotherapy. Despite successful implementation of these evidence-based strategies, many individuals are not properly identified before their first event or they continue to experience cardiovascular events despite “optimal” levels of biomarkers. The application of genomics, proteomics, and metabolomics provides opportunities to improve our understanding of the complex process of atherosclerosis and enables personalized diagnostic and therapeutic approaches.
Exo-Skeletal Engine: Novel Engine Concept

The exo-skeletal engine concept represents a new radical engine technology with the potential to substantially revolutionize engine design. It is an all-composite drum-rotor engine in which conventionally heavy shafts and discs are eliminated and are replaced by rotating casings that support the blades in spanwise compression. Thus the rotating blades are in compression rather than tension. The resulting open channel at the engine centerline has immense potential for jet noise reduction and can also accommodate an inner combined-cycle thruster such as a ramjet. The exo-skeletal engine is described in some detail with respect to geometry, components, and potential benefits. Initial evaluations and results for drum rotors, bearings, and weights are summarized. Component configuration, assembly plan, and potential fabrication processes are also identified. A finite element model of the assembled engine and its major components is described. Preliminary results obtained thus far show at least a 30-percent reduction of engine weight and about a 10-dB noise reduction, compared with a baseline conventional high-bypass-ratio engine. Potential benefits in all aspects of this engine technology are identified and tabulated. Quantitative assessments of potential benefits are in progress.
Technique for the Rapid Characterization of Parametric Distributions

We present a technique for fast characterization of the statistical mean and sigma of parametric variations. The technique uses a scan chain to sequentially cycle through a device array, creating a periodic waveform that can be directly measured using a multimeter. The dc and root-mean square values of the waveform directly give the mean and sigma of the parameter distribution. We show the technique is sufficiently general and can be applied to a wide range of characterization strategies. A VTH characterization array was implemented in a 65-nm bulk CMOS process where we compare traditional individual device measurements for calculating statistics with the direct mean and sigma measurement technique using the multimeter.
Attack of Mechanical Replicas: Liveness Detection With Eye Movements

This paper investigates liveness detection techniques in the area of eye movement biometrics. We investigate a specific scenario, in which an impostor constructs an artificial replica of the human eye. Two attack scenarios are considered: 1) the impostor does not have access to the biometric templates representing authentic users, and instead utilizes average anatomical values from the relevant literature and 2) the impostor gains access to the complete biometric database, and is able to employ exact anatomical values for each individual. In this paper, liveness detection is performed at the feature and match score levels for several existing forms of eye movement biometric, based on different aspects of the human visual system. The ability of each technique to differentiate between live and artificial recordings is measured by its corresponding false spoof acceptance rate, false live rejection rate, and classification rate. The results suggest that eye movement biometrics are highly resistant to circumvention by artificial recordings when liveness detection is performed at the feature level. Unfortunately, not all techniques provide feature vectors that are suitable for liveness detection at the feature level. At the match score level, the accuracy of liveness detection depends highly on the biometric techniques employed.
Estimating the partition function of graphical models using Langevin importance sampling

Graphical models are powerful in modeling a variety of real-world applications. Computing the partition function of a graphical model is known as an NP-hard problem for a general graph. A few sampling algorithms like Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC), Simulated Annealing Sampling (SAS), Annealed Importance Sampling (AIS) are developed to approximate the partition function. This paper presents a new Langevin Importance Sampling (LIS) algorithm to address this challenge. LIS performs a random walk in the conguration-temp erature space guided by the Langevin equation and estimates the partition function using all the samples generated during the random walk at all the temperatures, as opposed to the other conguration-temp erature sampling methods, which use only the samples at a specic temperature. Experimental results on several benchmark graphical models show that LIS can obtain much more accurate partition function than the others. LIS performs especially well on relatively large graphical models or those with a large number of local optima.
Identification of differentially expressed gene categories in microarray studies using nonparametric multivariate analysis

Motivation: The field of microarray data analysis is shifting emphasis from methods for identifying differentially expressed genes to methods for identifying differentially expressed gene categories. The latter approaches utilize a priori information about genes to group genes into categories and enhance the interpretation of experiments aimed at identifying expression differences across treatments. While almost all of the existing approaches for identifying differentially expressed gene categories are practically useful, they suffer from a variety of drawbacks. Perhaps most notably, many popular tools are based exclusively on gene-specific statistics that cannot detect many types of multivariate expression change. Results: We have developed a nonparametric multivariate method for identifying gene categories whose multivariate expression distribution differs across two or more conditions. We illustrate our approach and compare its performance to several existing procedures via the analysis of a real data set and a unique data-based simulation study designed to capture the challenges and complexities of practical data analysis. We show that our method has good power for differentiating between differentially expressed and non-differentially expressed gene categories, and we utilize a resampling based strategy for controling the false discovery rate when testing multiple categories. Availability: R code ( www.r-project.org) for implementing our approach is available from the first author by request. Contact: dnett@iastate.edu Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Calculating the short-circuit impedances of a multiwinding transformer from its geometry

By considering the set of short-circuit tests which can be performed on a multiwinding transformer, analytical expressions are derived for the leakage inductances between all pairs of transformer windings, expressions which depend only on the winding geometry and the frequency of excitation. For each short-circuit test, a simplified field analysis gives the complete solution for the frequency-independent magnetic field intensity between winding layers, and the frequency-dependent distribution of magnetic field intensity within each layer. Then, for any frequency of interest, the magnetic energy stored in each winding layer and interlayer space is calculated, and the results are summed to give the total energy stored in the entire winding space of the transformer. Finally, the leakage inductance between excited and short-circuited windings is derived from the total stored energy. Experimental data are provided that illustrate the accuracy and the limitations of such leakage-inductance calculations as well as the accuracy of AC-winding-resistance calculations carried out using a similar, previously published method. >
Stabilizing Selection for Pupa Weight in TRIBOLIUM CASTANEUM

Ninety-five generations of stabilizing selection for pupa weight in Tribolium castaneum resulted in a significant decrease in phenotypic variance, moderate reductions in additive genetic variance, but only slight changes in heritability for the trait. Sterility was significantly lower and the average number of live progeny per fertile mating was significantly higher in populations where stabilizing selection was practiced as compared with random selected populations. The results indicate that more genetic variability is being maintained than would be expected unless a fraction of the genes have a heterozygote advantage on the fitness scale. The reduction in phenotypic variance indicated that the populations with stablizing selection became somewhat more buffered against environmental sources of variation over the course of the experiment.
Spatial Fluctuations and the Flipping of the Genetic Switch in a Cellular System

– It has been realised that noise plays an important role in cellular processes where fluctuation induced number fluctuations of certain messenger molecules become non–negligible, due to the small total number of these molecules within one cell. In the following, it is argued that spatial fluctuations of such molecules and their impact on genetic switches should be considered as well.
Erratum to The specificity of referential thinking: A comparison of schizotypy and social anxiety [Psychiatry Research Volume (165) 78―87]

Referential thinking .76 .15 .28 Magical ideation .82 − .21 .20 Perceptual aberrations .76 − .21 .18 SPQ reality distortion .85 .18 .20 SPQ disorganization .60 .43 .15 SPQ negative symptoms .11 .85 .33 Delusional thinking (PDI) .86 .09 .03 Schizophrenia proneness .46 .53 .47 Social anxiety − .24 .66 .39 Social anhedonia .21 .72 .15 Depression .25 .25 .74 Anxiety-trait .22 .46 .80 Anxiety-state .10 .20 .82 Negative affect .31 .14 .82 Positive affect .12 −.76 − .12
Should activation functions be affinely recursive

Some activation functions can be represented as linear combinations of affine transformations of themselves. This phenomenon, investigated by Kurkova and Kainen (1996), is reviewed here, and some examples are considered.
The city: Its return as a lens for social theory

Abstract The article examines in what ways the sociological study of cities can produce scholarship and analytic tools that help us understand the broader social transformations under way today. Urban sociology had this capacity early in the 20th century, when industrialization generated massive changes in cities. The thesis is that today globalization is similarly generating major changes that become visible in cities, most notably global cities. One critical issue here is whether these larger transformations evince sufficiently complex and multivalent urban instances as to allow us to construct such instances as objects of study that take us beyond the urban moment of a process or condition. The urban moment of a major process can help the empirical study of that process in ways that other phases of such a process might not. At the same time, this urbanization of major processes repositions the city as an object of study. And this is the second question organizing this article: what is it we are actually naming today when we use the construct city?
Blood Vessel Detection via a Multi-window Parameter Transform

A parallel algorithm to detect retinal blood vessels has been developed for use in an automated diabetic retinopathy detection system. Localized adaptive thresholding and a multi-window Radon transform (RT) are utilized to detect the vascular system in retinal images. Multi-window parameter transforms are intrinsically parallel and offer increased performance over conventional transforms. The image is adoptively thresholded and then the multi-window RT is applied at different window sizes or partition levels. Results from each partition level are combined and morphologically processed to improve final performance. Multiple partitions are necessary to account for the size variation present in retinal blood vessels. The algorithm was tested with 20 images, 10 normal and 10 abnormal and the results demonstrate the robustness of the algorithm in the presence of noise. An average true positive rate of 86.3 % with a false positive rate of 3.9% is accomplished with this algorithm when tested against hand-labeled data
Throughput analysis of slotted asynchronous DS/CDMA system

A simple but accurate approximation for the probability of packet success for an asynchronous direct sequence code division multiple access (DS/CDMA) system is developed. In this approximation an improved Gaussian model for the multiple access interference (MAI) is considered and the effect of bit-to-bit error dependence caused by the interfering signal relative delays and phases is taken into account. This approximation allows us to determine the throughput performance of slotted asynchronous DS/CDMA system. >
Negative regulation of DAB2IP by Akt and SCFFbw7 pathways.

// Xiangpeng Dai 1,* , Brian J. North 1,* and Hiroyuki Inuzuka 1 1 Department of Pathology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA. * These authors contributed equally to this work. Correspondence: Brian North, email : bnorth @bidmc.harvard.edu Correspondence: Hiroyuki Inuzuka, email : hinuzuka @bidmc.harvard.edu Keywords : DAB2IP, Akt, Fbw7, degradation, cancer, phosphorylation, ubiquitination. Received : April 16, 2014 Accepted : April 30, 2014 Published : May 1, 2014 Abstract Deletion of ovarian carcinoma 2/disabled homolog 2 (DOC-2/DAB2) interacting protein (DAB2IP), is a tumor suppressor that serves as a scaffold protein involved in coordinately regulating cell proliferation, survival and apoptotic pathways. DAB2IP is epigenetically down-regulated in a variety of tumors through the action of the histone methyltransferase EZH2. Although DAB2IP is transcriptionally down-regulated in a variety of tumors, it remains unclear if other mechanisms contribute to functional inactivation of DAB2IP. Here we demonstrate that DAB2IP can be functionally down-regulated by two independent mechanisms. First, we identified that Akt1 can phosphorylate DAB2IP on S847, which regulates the interaction between DAB2IP and its effector molecules H-Ras and TRAF2. Second, we demonstrated that DAB2IP can be degraded in part through the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway by SCF Fbw7 . DAB2IP harbors two Fbw7 phosho-degron motifs, which can be regulated by the kinase CK1δ. Our data indicate that in addition to epigenetic down-regulation, two additional pathways can functionally inactivate DAB2IP. Given that DAB2IP has previously been identified to possess direct causal role in tumorigenesis and metastasis, our data indicate that a variety of pathways may pass through DAB2IP to govern cancer development, and therefore highlight DAB2IP agonists as potential therapeutic approaches for future anti-cancer drug development.
Effects of Family Functioning and Self-Image on Adolescent Smoking Initiation among Asian-American Subgroups

Purpose: This study examined differences in smoking prevalence and differences in associations between family functioning, self-image and adolescent smoking behavior among four Asian-American subgroups. Methods: Statistical analyses were conducted on responses about their smoking behaviors from 1139 students who self-identified as Chinese-Americans, Filipino-Americans, Korean-Americans, and Viet- namese-Americans. Results: Significant differences in the prevalence of ever-tried smoking and 30-day smoking were found across subgroups, but there were no overall gender differences. Korean-American adolescents reported the highest lifetime smoking and 30-day smoking rates, followed by Vietnamese- and Filipino- Americans. Chinese-Americans reported the lowest smoking rates. There were also differences in the associations between smoking and family functioning and self-image across the four subgroups. High family functioning was inversely associated with smoking for Chinese- and Korean-American adoles- cents, but not for Filipino- and Vietnamese-Americans. On the other hand, high self-image was associated with decreased risk of smoking for Filipino- and Vietnamese-Americans, but not for the other two subgroups. Conclusion: Findings of this study demonstrate that family functioning and self-image varied across Asian-American subgroups. This suggests the need to understand etiological differences between the groups as well as potential implications for prevention cessation programs. © 2006 Society for Adoles- cent Medicine. All rights reserved.
Spatial prediction of counts and rates

In this paper we provide both theoretical and empirical comparisons of marginal and conditional methods for analysing spatial count data. We focus on methods for spatial prediction developed from a generalized linear mixed model framework and compare them with the traditional linear (kriging) predictor. Prediction methods are illustrated and compared through a case study based on real data and through a detailed simulation study. The paper emphasizes a better understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of each approach.
Strain Diversity of Borrelia burgdorferi in Ticks Dispersed in North America by Migratory Birds

The role of migratory birds in the dispersal of Ixodes scapularis ticks in the northeastern U.S. is well established and is presumed to be a major factor in the expansion of the geographic risk for Lyme disease. Population genetic studies of B. burgdorferi sensu stricto, the agent of Lyme disease in this region, consistently reveal the local presence of as many as 15 distinct strain types as designated by major groups of the ospC surface lipoprotein. Recent evidence suggests such strain diversity is adaptive to the diverse vertebrate hosts that maintain enzootic infection. How this strain diversity is established in emergent areas is unknown. To determine whether similar strain diversity is present in ticks imported by birds, we examined B. burgdorferi strains in I. scapularis ticks removed from migrants at an isolated island site. Tick mid-guts were cultured and isolates underwent DNA amplification with primers targeting ospC. Amplicons were separated by gel electrophoresis and sequenced. One hundred thirty-seven nymphal ticks obtained from 68 birds resulted in 24 isolates of B. burgdorferi representing eight ospC major groups. Bird-derived ticks contain diverse strain types of B. burgdorferi, including strain types associated with invasive Lyme disease. Birds and the ticks that feed on them may introduce a diversity of strains of the agent of Lyme disease to emergent areas.
Activation of Endothelial Transient Receptor Potential C3 Channel Is Required for Small Conductance Calcium‐Activated Potassium Channel Activation and Sustained Endothelial Hyperpolarization and Vasodilation of Cerebral Artery

Background Transient receptor potential C3 (TRPC3) has been demonstrated to be involved in the regulation of vascular tone through endothelial cell (EC) hyperpolarization and endothelium-dependent hyperpolarization–mediated vasodilation. However, the mechanism by which TRPC3 regulates these processes remains unresolved. We tested the hypothesis that endothelial receptor stimulation triggers rapid TRPC3 trafficking to the plasma membrane, where it provides the source of Ca2+ influx for small conductance calcium-activated K+ (SKCa) channel activation and sustained EC hyperpolarization. Methods and Results Pressurized artery studies were performed with isolated mouse posterior cerebral artery. Treatment with a selective TRPC3 blocker (Pyr3) produced significant attenuation of endothelium-dependent hyperpolarization–mediated vasodilation and endothelial Ca2+ response (EC-specific Ca2+ biosensor) to intraluminal ATP. Pyr3 treatment also resulted in a reduced ATP-stimulated global Ca2+ and Ca2+ influx in primary cultures of cerebral endothelial cells. Patch-clamp studies with freshly isolated cerebral ECs demonstrated 2 components of EC hyperpolarization and K+ current activation in response to ATP. The early phase was dependent on intermediate conductance calcium-activated K+ channel activation, whereas the later sustained phase relied on SKCa channel activation. The SKCa channel–dependent phase was completely blocked with TRPC3 channel inhibition or in ECs of TRPC3 knockout mice and correlated with increased trafficking of TRPC3 (but not SKCa channel) to the plasma membrane. Conclusions We propose that TRPC3 dynamically regulates SKCa channel activation through receptor-dependent trafficking to the plasma membrane, where it provides the source of Ca2+ influx for sustained SKCa channel activation, EC hyperpolarization, and endothelium-dependent hyperpolarization–mediated vasodilation.
Eigenvector analysis of isolated and coupled thin antennas

The boundary-integral method is used to solve for eigenvectors that are discrete representations of the characteristic modes of both single-layer and stacked thin microwave antennas. The performance of high-Q resonant devices is adequately represented near each natural frequency by a single characteristic mode. In the case of stacked structures, it is proposed that, instead of thinking in terms of the natural frequencies of the individual antennas (microstrip patches or cavity-backed slot antennas), performance (impedance and patterns) should be considered in terms of the multiple natural frequencies and corresponding characteristic modes of the coupled system. >
Student Perceptions Of The Online Classroom: An Update

In this paper, the authors compare perceptions of 2001-2002 undergraduate students toward online courses, with the attitudes of undergraduate students matriculating in 2005. Specifically, a questionnaire developed and used in a study during the period 2001-2002, in which there were eight hundred ninety-six (896) undergraduate students at two medium-sized southern universities, was again given to six hundred twenty-six (626) undergraduate students at these same two universities in 2005. The results suggest that students continue to have questions about the overall appeal of online courses, despite the fact that three to four years have elapsed. The results of this study should be of interest to university administrators, faculty members, and students who plan to offer, teach, or take online courses in the future. This information may be helpful to university administrators in deciding which types of courses at their universities might be offered online. Faculty who are considering teaching one or more online courses may find the results of this study helpful in structuring these online offerings. This research is also intended to give students a realistic expectation of what to anticipate from online courses, based upon information we have found and studies we have done.
Brachypodium distachyon as a Model Species to Understand Grass Cell Walls

The utilization of Brachypodium distachyon as a model system has allowed for a synthesis of known aspects of grass cell wall biosynthesis and provided a platform to investigate new areas of the field. Compositional analysis of B. distachyon cell walls shows many similarities with the walls of major food and energy crop species. This chapter presents a summary of these comparisons, as well as a review of work done in B. distachyon characterizing genes involved with cell wall biogenesis. Aspects of lignin biosynthesis and polymerization, cellulose and hemicellulose synthesis, and transcriptional regulation of secondary walls have all been characterized in B. distachyon, with genetic, biochemical, and phenotypic data outlined herein. Finally, the use of B. distachyon in identifying saccharification and digestibility traits relatable to biofuel feedstock quality in grasses are discussed. Taken together, the reviewed material demonstrates the utility of B. distachyon as a model for grass cell wall research, highlighting known and novel facets of cell wall biosynthesis.
ANTIGEN-SPECIFIC T-CELL RESPONSES IN CATTLE IMMUNIZED WITH ANTIGENS OF TRITRICHOMONAS FOETUS

The cellular immune responses of cattle immunized with antigens of Tritrichomonas foetus were investigated. Subcutaneous injections of antigen preparations primed bovine peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) by 30 days of immunization as demonstrated by antigen-specific proliferation and by cytokine production upon antigen challenge of PBMC. Antigen-specific T-cells derived from PBMC responded by production of interferon (IFN)-γ message detected by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction, secreted IFN-γ detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and intracellular IFN-γ detected by flow cytometry. Phenotypic analysis of PBMC responding in vitro to parasite antigen demonstrated a shift from a mixed CD4+, CD8+, γδ+, to predominantly CD4+, CD8−, γδ− phenotype in the Tf190-primed PBMC. In conclusion, systemic immunization of cattle with parasite antigen results in priming of bovine T-cells that are antigen specific and can produce an anamnestic IFN-γ response to subsequent stimulation with anti...
Big Data: Cloud computing in genomics applications

Healthcare applications typically require big data management as well as intensive computation. This is especially true with recently developed next generation sequencing technology which increases interests in processing the huge amount of information in a timely fashion. In this paper, we focus on testing whether the healthcare applications can scale well on commercial big data platforms that implement MapReduce framework. We selected short read sequence alignment and assembly workloads in genome analysis workloads, and chose Bowtie, Blast and Contrail-bio which are publically available applications designed to run on the Hadoop MapReduce framework. To speed-up the processes we compressed the intermediate data using various compression schemes the compression schemes are compared. The test results are very promising and indicate that the wide range of genomic analysis workflows can be optimized on MapReduce frameworks with great computational efficiency and scalability.
Active 3D Imaging Systems

Active 3D imaging systems use artificial illumination in order to capture and record digital representations of objects. The use of artificial illumination allows the acquisition of dense and accurate range images of textureless objects that are difficult to acquire using passive vision systems. An active 3D imaging system can be based on different measurement principles that include time-of-flight, triangulation and interferometry. While time-of-flight and interferometry systems are briefly discussed, an in-depth description of triangulation-based systems is provided. The characterization of triangulation-based systems is discussed using both an error propagation framework and experimental protocols.
Maximizing Utilization of the Potential Deceased Donor: The Challenge Continues

As organ transplantation has become a successful treatment for patients with end-stage organ disease, the number of patients waiting for transplantation has increased exponentially over the last three decades. The single most significant barrier to match the number of organ transplantation procedures to the number of patients waiting for this lifesaving treatment is the shortage of organ donors. By the end of 2008, 100,597 patients were waiting for organ transplantation, while only 27,281 transplant procedures were performed during that year. There are two critical stages in the organ donation process that have a direct effect on the actual number of organ donors: identification of the potential donor and the consent for donation. “Hospital Ownership” principles aim to address the process of donor identification and the initiation of the donation process. Healthcare professional education is key to the success of the “Hospital Ownership” concept. Public education is essential for increasing consent for organ donation and impacts the number of people registered as “designated donors” as well as the willingness of the deceased donor’s family to grant consent for donation. Several initiatives over the last decade by local, state, and federal organizations have resulted in an increase in the number of deceased organ donors in the USA, with a peak of 8,085 in 2007 compared to 5,824 in 1999. Since 2007, the number of deceased donors has reached a plateau; maintaining a high level of awareness in the minds of healthcare professionals, government officials, and the public to the acute shortage of organs is essential and requires the sustained, combined effort of all parties involved to ultimately ease the burden caused by the organ shortage.
Cellulose Microfibril Formation by Surface-Tethered Cellulose Synthase Enzymes

Cellulose microfibrils are pseudocrystalline arrays of cellulose chains that are synthesized by cellulose synthases. The enzymes are organized into large membrane-embedded complexes in which each enzyme likely synthesizes and secretes a β-(1→4) glucan. The relationship between the organization of the enzymes in these complexes and cellulose crystallization has not been explored. To better understand this relationship, we used atomic force microscopy to visualize cellulose microfibril formation from nickel-film-immobilized bacterial cellulose synthase enzymes (BcsA-Bs), which in standard solution only form amorphous cellulose from monomeric BcsA-B complexes. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction techniques show that surface-tethered BcsA-Bs synthesize highly crystalline cellulose II in the presence of UDP-Glc, the allosteric activator cyclic-di-GMP, as well as magnesium. The cellulose II cross section/diameter and the crystal size and crystallinity depend on the surface density of tethered enzymes as well as the overall concentration of substrates. Our results provide the correlation between cellulose microfibril formation and the spatial organization of cellulose synthases.
Evaluating a Graphical Cardiovascular Display for Anesthesia

A multi-disciplinary team developed a graphical/object-based cardiovascular display to support anesthesiologist's decision-making in the operating room. The process of designing the display incorporated central findings from the areas of naturalistic decision-making and medical cognition and used rapid iterative prototyping. To evaluate their performance when using the cardiovascular display, 20 anesthesiologists participated in a study in a high fidelity simulator (METI). Half the subjects used the cardiovascular display, the other half received the same information presented in a numeric format. The anesthesiologists treated two critical events in two simulated patients. In one case the patient suffered from anaphylactic shock, in the other case, severe blood loss and myocardial infarction occurred. Measurements were taken for detection, diagnosis, and treatment time. The cardiovascular display improved performance across these different indicators when anesthesiologists were dealing with a cardiovascul...
Life-threatening Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy.

OBJECTIVE To report a case of seizure-induced takotsubo cardiomyopathy with rare etiology and rarer complications. METHODS A 50-year-old woman had multiple epileptic seizures and later developed acute heart failure complicated by ventricular fibrillation and shock. A two-dimensional echocardiogram revealed apical ballooning of the left ventricle resembling a takotsubo (a Japanese fisherman's pot used to trap octopi). The apex was also hypokinetic. RESULTS The hemodynamic abnormalities normalized with defibrillation, assisted ventilation, inotropic support, and pressor agents. More importantly, the apical ballooning deformity and systolic dysfunction reversed. The echocardiogram normalized three months later. A nuclear treadmill stress test was negative for ischemia. CONCLUSIONS Apical ballooning of the left ventricle and hypokinesis are typical echocardiographic features in takotsubo cardiomyopathy, a stress-induced heart disease. It may follow severe emotional, physical, and neurologic stressors, in our rare case, grand mal seizures (0.2 % of all takotsubo disease patients). Also rare are life-threatening complications. Based on these observations, in a case with severe stress followed by acute heart failure, takotsubo cardiomyopathy should be a major diagnostic consideration. The dramatic initial triggering event, in our case an epileptic seizure, should not mask the possibility of coexisting takotsubo cardiomyopathy. Awareness of this disease, anticipation of complications, and two-dimensional echocardiography will help channel the management in the right direction.
EXERTIONAL DYSPNEA IN A YOUNG ATHLETE; ARTERIAL HYPOXEMIA CLUES A SINISTER PATHOLOGY

Exercise induced dyspnea (EID) is a common complaint in young athletes. Exercise induced bronchospasm (EIB) is recognized as the most common cause of EID in otherwise healthy athletes. Often these young patients are treated empirically without definitive diagnosis. Clinicians must recognize when
RETENTION AND RESOURCES: AN EXPLORATION OF HOW SOCIAL NETWORK RESOURCES RELATED TO UNIVERSITY COMMITMENT*

Universities are increasingly interested in improving student retention. Furthermore, a student’s university-affiliated social network may have an impact on how committed a student is to graduating from the university. A questionnaire study was conducted to evaluate the effect of freshmen’s perspective of social variables on institutional commitment. Social variables measured included social network size, network satisfaction, and perception of available network resources such as personal, social, and instrumental resources. Regression analyses indicated that perceptions of resources available from the social network were highly correlated with network satisfaction. Satisfaction with one’s university-affiliated social network was found to be positively correlated with institutional commitment.
Case 8-2006: A 71-year-old woman with Crohn's disease and altered mental status

A 71-year-old woman with Crohn's disease, who had been receiving treatment with mercaptopurine and infliximab, had fatigue, blurred vision, headache and mood changes, and an inguinal mass. She had a sudden onset of left-sided weakness; brain imaging disclosed a mass, and she was transferred to this hospital. Shortly after admission, she had a seizure and became unresponsive.
Subjugator: A Reconfigurable AUV

Graduate and undergraduate students at the University of Florida have developed an autonomous submarine, Subjugator , for subaqueous research and for entry in the annual ONR/AUVSI underwater vehicle competition. Subjugator was designed for operation down to 100 feet, and can be quickly configured to optimize for mobility or speed. Subjugator s body has mounts to support up to ten motors, each of which may be oriented in multiple directions. The vehicleis controlled through a single-board computer running the Linux operation system and custom software. The on-board sensor suite includes a digital compass, a fluidic inclinometer, a sonar altimeter, and a depth pressure sensor. In addition to the standard complement of navigational sensors, a computer vision system was developed for object recognition and tracking. In this paper the mechanical makeup of Subjugator will first be discussed. The electronics systems and processing hardware will follow with an analysis of vehicle control.
Using Qualitative Methods to Validate and Contextualize Quantitative Findings: A Case Study of Research on Sexual Behavior and Gender-Based Violence Among Young Swazi Women.

Most modern public health researchers in the behavioral and social sciences situate their research within a post-positivist framework, either explicitly or implicitly.1,2 Researchers working within a post-positivist framework assume that while objective “truths” of human behavior and experience exist, measuring and defining these realities is at best an approximate science. A physician or clinical researcher can measure blood pressure or CD4 count using precisely calibrated instruments and feel confident in the accuracy of the measurements, but quantifying aspects of human health and well-being is not so simple. Measuring and defining human behavior and experience is at best an approximate science.
Autologous Bone Graft in Foot and Ankle Surgery

Bone graft is a common adjunct procedure in orthopedic surgery used for fusions, fracture repair, and the reconstruction of skeletal defects in the foot and ankle. Autologous graft, or autograft, involves the transport of bone from a donor site to another location in the same patient. It is considered by many to be the gold standard of bone grafting, as it is provides all biologic factors required for functional graft. Further, autograft is 100% histocompatible with no risk of disease transmission.
Alliance Portfolios And Firm Performance: The Moderating Role Of Firm Strategy And Resources

This paper uses Porter’s generic strategies and the resource-based view of alliances to address the question: which firms benefit more from greater alliance participation? I argue that firms pursui...
The power of sound for brain health.

We ask a lot of our brains and they comply, carrying out petaflops of computations per second. A substantial amount of this processing power is devoted to sound processing — a process that is therefore vulnerable, but also repairable.
The continuing role of hemiarthroplasty in the treatment of proximal humerus fractures

Abstract Three- and four-part proximal humerus fractures may be successfully managed with non-operative or operative treatment. When surgery is indicated, younger patients with proximal humerus fractures commonly undergo open reduction and internal fixation, while older patients are often treated with reverse shoulder arthroplasty. However, for the active, older patient with a fracture that cannot be reliably reconstructed, hemiarthroplasty remains a viable treatment option. The orthopedic surgeon must carefully review each patient's overall clinical picture and select the treatment technique with the most advantageous risk/benefit profile for that individual.
Supergeomagnetic Storms: Past, Present, and Future

Abstract Geomagnetic storms are large-scale disturbances in the Earth's magnetic field due to orders of magnitude increases in trapped energetic ~ 10–300 keV particle fluxes in the magnetosphere. During geomagnetic storms, the horizontal component of the low-latitude magnetic fields is significantly depressed over a time span of one to a few hours from the diamagnetic effect from the enhanced ring current fluxes. This is known as the main phase of the storm, and is followed by the recovery phase where the particles are lost. This latter phase may extend over several days. The strength of magnetic storms is measured by the Disturbance Storm Time (Dst) index. Superintense magnetic storms (defined here as those with Dst
STRUCTURE OF THE AVIAN MITOCHONDRIAL CYTOCHROME BC1 COMPLEX

There are now four structures of vertebrate mitochondrial bc1 complexes available in theprotein databases and structures from yeast and bacterial sources are expected soon. Thisreview summarizes the new information with emphasis on the avian cytochrome bc1 complex(PDB entries 1BCC and 3BCC). The Rieske iron–sulfur protein is mobile and this has beenproposed to be important for catalysis. The binding sites for quinone have been located basedon structures containing inhibitors and, in the case of the quinone reduction site Qi, thequinone itself.
Improved Power/EM Side-Channel Attack Resistance of 128-Bit AES Engines With Random Fast Voltage Dithering

This paper demonstrates the improved power and electromagnetic (EM) side-channel attack (SCA) resistance of 128-bit Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) engines in 130-nm CMOS using random fast voltage dithering (RFVD) enabled by integrated voltage regulator (IVR) with the bond-wire inductors and an on-chip all-digital clock modulation (ADCM) circuit. RFVD scheme transforms the current signatures with random variations in AES input supply while adding random shifts in the clock edges in the presence of global and local supply noises. The measured power signatures at the supply node of the AES engines show upto 37 $\times $ reduction in peak for higher order test vector leakage assessment (TVLA) metric and upto 692 $\times $ increase in minimum traces required to disclose (MTD) the secret encryption key with correlation power analysis (CPA). Similarly, SCA on the measured EM signatures from the chip demonstrates a reduction of upto 11.3 $\times $ in TVLA peak and upto 37 $\times $ increase in correlation EM analysis (CEMA) MTD.
Neurologic aspects of sweating and its disorders

Thermoregulation is critical to the survival of all mammalian species. Through sweating, humans are able to dissipate heat generated during physical activity and increased environmental temperature. There are 2 types of sweating, thermoregulatory and emotional, which are differentially triggered and regulated in the CNS through sympathetic outputs, and affect different populations of sweat glands.
Epistemic Injustice and Recognition Theory: A New Conversation —Afterword

The notion of recognition is an ethically potent resource for understanding human relational needs; and its negative counterpart, misrecognition, an equally potent resource for critique. Axel Honneth’s rich account focuses our attention on recognition’s role in securing basic self-confidence, moral self-respect, and self-esteem. With these loci of recognition in place, we are enabled to raise the intriguing question whether each of these may be extended to apply specifically to the epistemic dimension of our agency and selfhood. Might we talk intelligibly—while staying in tune with Honneth’s concepts and their Hegelian key—of a generic idea of epistemic recognition? Such an idea might itself be seen to apply at the same three levels to indicate: first, basic epistemic self-confidence; second, our status as epistemically responsible; and third, a certain epistemic self-esteem that reflects the epistemic esteem we receive from others. The papers in this volume surely sound a chord in the affirmative, and together they steer us towards a multifaceted conception of how epistemic injustice is related to epistemic misrecognition, and indeed how we might construe a positive relation of epistemic recognition.
Standardization of ceruloplasmin activity in terms of international enzyme units: Oxidative formation of “Bandrowski's base” from p-phenylenediamine by ceruloplasmin☆

1. 1. It was established that the pigment formed from the in vitro enzymic oxidation of p-phenylenediamine by the ceruloplasmin of human sera has an absorption spectrum identical to that of the known compound “Bandrowski's base”. 2. 2. By using standard solutions of Bandrowski's base, a simple standardization of serum ceruloplasmin activity in terms of “International Enzyme Units” was applied to the previously evaluated assay procedure of Houchin. 3. 3. Based on these data the “normal” range of serum ceruloplasmin activity in adults is 35–65 International Units, i.e., micromoles of Bandrowski's base formed per minute per liter of serum.