cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Painting and printing living bacteria: Engineering nanoporous biocatalytic coatings to preserve microbial viability and intensify reactivity

Latex biocatalytic coatings containing ∼50% by volume of microorganisms stabilize, concentrate and preserve cell viability on surfaces at ambient temperature. Coatings can be formed on a variety of surfaces, delaminated to generate stand-alone membranes or formulated as reactive inks for piezoelectric deposition of viable microbes. As the latex emulsion dries, cell preservation by partial desiccation occurs simultaneously with the formation of pores and adhesion to the substrate. The result is living cells permanently entrapped, surrounded by nanopores generated by partially coalesced polymer particles. Nanoporosity is essential for preserving microbial viability and coating reactivity. Cryo-SEM methods have been developed to visualize hydrated coating microstructure, confocal microscopy and dispersible coating methods have been developed to quantify the activity of the entrapped cells, and FTIR methods are being developed to determine the structure of vitrified biomolecules within and surrounding the cells in dry coatings. Coating microstructure, stability and reactivity are investigated using small patch or strip coatings where bacteria are concentrated 102- to 103-fold in 5–75 μm thick layers with pores formed by carbohydrate porogens. The carbohydrate porogens also function as osmoprotectants and are postulated to preserve microbial viability by formation of glasses inside the microbes during coat drying; however, the molecular mechanism of cell preservation by latex coatings is not known. Emerging applications include coatings for multistep oxidations, photoreactive coatings, stabilization of hyperthermophiles, environmental biosensors, microbial fuel cells, as reaction zones in microfluidic devices, or as very high intensity (>100 g·L-1 coating volume·h-1) industrial or environmental biocatalysts. We anticipate expanded use of nanoporous adhesive coatings for prokaryotic and eukaryotic cell preservation at ambient temperature and the design of highly reactive “living” paints and inks.
The international accounting course state of the art

Abstract The objective of this article is to report to professors interested in developing or updating an international accounting course the experience of other professors who are already teaching such a course. The information presented here is based on review and analysis of international course syllabi offered at 31 U.S., Canadian, British and New Zealand universities.
Clearance of fibrinogen and von Willebrand factor in serial double-filtration plasmapheresis.

Double filtration plasmapheresis (DFP) is a widely used and effective way to clear autoantibodies from plasma. It can, however, transiently alter the hemostatic system and cause a bleeding tendency in some patients. There is limited data on the consecutive effect of serial DFP on the hemostatic system, especially on fibrinogen and von Willebrand factor (vWF) levels. This study measured fibrinogen and vWF serially before and after each session of DFP in 8 patients who received one course of DFP treatment for 3 to 5 consecutive sessions on an alternate-day basis. In each session of DFP, the clearance rate of fibrinogen and vWF exceeded 63 and 45%, respectively. The final levels of fibrinogen and vWF after a full course of DFP were reduced to 14.3 and 51.2% of baseline level, respectively. No bleeding tendency was observed in any of the 34 DFP sessions. In conclusion, although an obvious decrease in fibrinogen level and the modest decrease in vWF were observed after an intensive course of DFP treatment, the low incidence of clinically important bleeding confirms the hemostasis-related safety of DFP.
Mitochondrial DNA Deletion Mutations and Sarcopenia

This manuscript summarizes our studies on mitochondrial DNA and enzymatic abnormalities that accumulate, with age, in skeletal muscle. Specific quadricep muscles, rectus femoris in the rat and vastus lateralis in the rhesus monkey, were used in these studies. These muscles exhibit considerable sarcopenia, the loss of muscle mass with age. The focal accumulation of mtDNA deletion mutations and enzymatic abnormalities in aged skeletal muscle necessitates a histologic approach in which every muscle fiber is examined for electron transport system (ETS) enzyme activity along its length. These studies demonstrate that ETS abnormalities accumulate to high levels within small regions of aged muscle fibers. Concomitant with the ETS abnormalities, we observe intrafiber atrophy and, in many cases, fiber breakage. Laser capture microdissection facilitates analysis of individual fibers from histologic sections and demonstrates a tight association between mtDNA deletion mutations and the ETS abnormalities. On the basis of these results, we propose a molecular basis for skeletal muscle fiber loss with age, a process beginning with the mtDNA deletion event and culminating with muscle fiber breakage and loss.
Near-resonance excitation of dielectric spheres with plane waves and off-axis Gaussian beams.

Modes haυing high-Q morphology-dependent resonances (MDR’s) can dominate the internal energy distribution in spheres eυen when excited by many linewidths from the resonant location.
ADVANCES IN THE MANAGEMENT OF ADVANCED AND RECURRENT UTERINE PAPILLARY SEROUS CARCINOMA: 0014

Uterine papillary serous carcinoma (UPSC) is an aggressive subtype of endometrial cancer that accounts for 5–10% of all cases. Over 50% of the patients with UPSC present with advanced stage disease(1). Among patients with noninvasive uterine disease, 40% have advanced stage UPSC(1); therefore, complete surgical staging is crucial to determine prognosis and treatment(2). Optimal tumor debulking (<1cm) is associated with a better prognosis and improved overall survival(3). After initial surgical staging, patients with high stage UPSC have an improved overall survival if treated with chemotherapy (platinum-based or paclitaxel-based therapy)(1). Even with chemotherapy, the disease free interval is approximately 1 year(4–6). The role of radiation in these patients is unclear. Up to 30% of recurrences occur outside of the abdomen and pelvis (unpublished data). While the response rate to chemotherapy in the recurrent setting is up to 80%, the duration of response is approximately 7 months (4–6). Because the disease free interval in the adjuvant setting and the duration of response in patients with recurrent disease is limited, better strategies are needed to treat patients with this disease. We have recently evaluated Her-2/neu overexpression and amplification in a series of patients with UPSC. Her-2/neu overexpression was independently associated with a poor prognosis, however the rate of specific gene amplification was only 3%(7). We have found that imatinib-targeted kinases are overexpressed in UPSC(8). We currently are evaluating imatinib (Gleevec, Novartis) and paclitaxel for the treatment of UPSC in patients with advanced or recurrent disease.
Stress and Interleukin‐1 β‐Induced Activation of c‐fos, NGFI‐B ann CRF Gene Expression in the Hypothalamic PVN: Comparison Between Sprague‐Dawley, Fisher‐344 and Lewis Rats

Various signals are known to activate the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, an event largely dependent on the release of corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) which originates mainly from the parvocellular paraventricular nucleus (PVN) of the hypothalamus. These signals include neurogenic stimuli such as exposure to mild electroshocks, and systemic stimuli like administration of cytokines. The HPA axis activity of Lewis rats has been reported to be hyporesponsive to such stimuli, but the exact mechanisms involved in this phenomenon are poorly understood. The present study investigated the effect of footshock exposure and central injection of interleukin (IL)-1β, on CRF neuronal activity and gene expression in the PVN of adult male Sprague-Dawley (SD), Fisher-344 (F344) and Lewis (LEW) rats. The animals were deeply anesthetized and rapidly perfused transcardially with a solution of 4% paraformaldehyde 3 h after the beginning of the footshock session (1.5 mA, 2 s duration, 4/min over 1 h), or the i.c.v. injection of IL-1β (100 ng in 10 μl). mRNA encoding the immediate ‘early’ genes (lEGs) c-fos and NGFI-B, as well as CRF, were assayed by in situ hybridization histochemistry, while the localization of Fos protein within CRF-immunoreactive (ir) neurons in the PVN was determined using a dual immunostaining protocol. Both stress and IL-1β induced robust Fos-ir expression within the parvocellular division of the PVN in all 3 strains. The number of cells immunoreactive for both Fos and CRF proteins in the PVN was similar in SD, F344 and LEW rats following either challenge. While control animals did not display detectable levels of c-fos or NGFI-B mRNA in the PVN, both treatments induced significant expression of these transcripts in this hypothalamic nucleus and no significant differences were observed among SD, F344 and LEW rats. Relative levels of CRF mRNA in the PVN were also significantly and comparably increased following either stress or central IL-1β treatment. In contrast, plasma ACTH and corticosterone levels were significantly higher in F344 and SD rats than in LEW animals during the stress session. These results provide further evidence that physical stress and central IL-1β can enhance expression of several lEGs, as well as CRF, within the parvocellular division of the PVN. These independent indices of functional activation within parvocellular CRF neurons appear to respond similarly to diverse challenges in adult male SD, F344 and LEW rats. Thus, these findings suggest that the hyporesponsiveness of LEW HPA axis to stress does not seem to be a consequence of a defect in afferent signals to the parvocellular PVN, at least in mature male rats.
Trajectory representation using sequenced linear dynamical systems

In this paper we present a novel approach for representing trajectories using sequenced linear dynamical systems. This method uses a closed-form least-squares procedure to fit a single linear dynamical system (LDS) to a simple trajectory. These LDS estimates form the elemental building blocks used to describe complicated trajectories through an automatic segmentation procedure that can represent complicated trajectories with high accuracy. Each estimated LDS induces a control law, mapping current state to desired state, that encodes the target trajectory in a generative manner. We provide a proof of stability of the control law and show how multiple trajectories can be incorporated to improve the generalization ability of the system.
Letter by Hattler et al Regarding Article, “Graft Patency After Off-Pump Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery”

We appreciate the editorial by Thourani and Guyton1 discussing the Randomized On/Off Bypass (ROOBY) study’s off-pump versus on-pump graft patency results,2 and respect the contributions of Emory University in advancing the quality of off-pump bypass surgery. In our opinion, however, the editorial contained misinterpretations of the ROOBY study clarified herein. The authors emphasized that the ROOBY study found no difference in left internal mammary artery to left anterior descending artery patency between treatments, ignoring the important point that the ROOBY study found that off-pump bypass surgery resulted in significantly more flow-limited left internal mammary artery grafts and fewer widely patent (FitzGibbon A) grafts. Furthermore, the authors stated, “With respect to coronary beds, …
Document selection for tiered indexing in commerce search

A search engine aims to return a set of relevant documents in response to a query, while minimizing the response time. This has led to the use of a tiered index, where the search engine maintains a small cache of documents that can serve a large fraction of queries. We give a novel algorithm for the selection of documents in a tiered index for commerce search (i.e. users searching for products on the web) that effectively exploits the superior structural characteristics of commerce search queries. This is in sharp contrast to previous approaches to tiered indexing that were aimed at general web search where queries are typically unstructured. We theoretically analyze our algorithms and give performance guarantees even in worst-case scenarios. We then complement and strengthen our theoretical claims by performing exhaustive experiments on real-world commerce search data, and show that our algorithm outperforms state-of-the-art tiered indexing techniques that were developed for general web search.
A possible role for acetyl CoA in the control of gluconeogenesis.

Summary The thesis has been advanced that the synthesis of P-enolpyruvate from pyruvate during gluconeogenesis in liver occurs by a two-reaction sequence involving the carboxylation of pyruvate to oxaloacetate and decarboxylation of this compound to P-enolpyruvate. The carboxylation reaction, catalyzed by pyruvate carboxylase, is completely dependent on the presence of acetyl CoA, suggesting that the latter may serve as a control mechanism for oxaloacetate and P-enolpyruvate synthesis. The mechanism of the pyruvate carboxylase reaction has been investigated with particular emphasis on the role of acetyl CoA in the process. Exchange reactions support the hypothesis that this biotin-dependent carboxylation requires acetyl CoA for the formation of the CO2-biotin-enzyme intermediate but not for transfer of the carboxyl group from the intermediate to pyruvate. Possible mechanisms involving acetyl CoA as a transcarboxylating or transacylating agent are not supported by experimental tests of these hypotheses. The tentative conclusion is reached that acetyl CoA probably acts by combining with the protein to alter its catalytic properties rather than by participating in the reaction as a substrate which is regenerated. If conformational changes do occur in the presence of acetyl CoA, they probably do not involve an association-dissociation mechanism since ultracentrifugal studies indicate that acetyl CoA has little if any effect on the sedimentation properties of the enzyme. Pyruvate carboxylase has been observed to be markedly labile at low temperatures although protected by high concentrations of sucrose or certain combinations of reaction components.
A deadlock detection interface to a commercial simulation language

Abstract In this research, issues related to deadlock detection in discrete event simulation models and the feasibility of interfacing a deadlock detection algorithm to a commercial simulation language have been explored. For the purpose of this research, a deadlock detection algorithm has been designed, developed and interfaced to the SIMAN commercial simulation language. Both the algorithm and the interface have been validated using a set of sample scenarios. The details of the deadlock detection algorithm, the interface to the chosen commercial simulation language and the validation scenarios are discussed in this paper, along with the lessons learned and recommendations for future enhancements.
Gender and United States Citizenship in Nation and Empire

In the past twenty years, women’s history, ethnic studies, colonial studies, and labor history have so impacted the field of gender and citizenship that most new scholarship successfully incorporates issues of race, gender and, to a lesser extent, class. The study of sexuality and the impact of globalization on citizenship are important new directions for the field. A deep theoretical divide exists between those who believe that American citizenship has become progressively more inclusive over time and those who believe citizenship is based upon the exclusion of some to the detriment of all.
Some larval trematodes from the coast in the region of Roscoff, Finistére.

Seven species of cercariae and four of metacercariae collected at Roscoff, Finistere, during August, 1931, are described. They have been referred to appropriate systematic groups and wherever possible, probabilities concerning life histories are suggested. Four of the cercariae and two of the metacercariae are recorded as new to science.
Neutral lipids facilitate transfer of bone morphogenetic proteins and other noncollagenous proteins

In the process of separation of bone morphogenetic proteins from bone matrix, lipids were found in unexpected amounts closely associated with noncollagenous proteins soluble in guanidine hydrochloride. Lipids representing 33.7-49.9% by weight were recovered with various solvents. Composites of noncollagenous proteins and lipids soluble in either chloroform- methanol or acetone implanted in the hindquarter muscles of mice induced the formation of large deposits of heterotopic bone. The protein-lipid aggregates formed microspherules which were stained by Sudan Black B. Implants of bone morphogenetic proteins and noncollagenous proteins-lipid microspherules stained with Sudan Black B induced bone development in the same manner as unstained delipidized bone morphogenetic proteins associated with noncollagenous proteins. Lipid-free osteocalcein, osteonectin, albumin and other bone matrix proteins did not induce bone formation or bind Sudan Black B. The more highly purified the noncollagenous proteins, with or without activity of bone morphogenetic proteins, the lower the level of binding with Sudan Black B. Acetone-soluble bone matrix lipids consisted chiefly of triglycerides, cholesterol and saturated short chain fatty acids, and included little or no phospholipids or monounsaturated fatty acids. Composites of recombinant bone morphogenetic proteins-2 and acetone-soluble lipids induced larger deposits of bone than implants of recombinant bone morphogenetic proteins-2 without acetone-soluble lipids. The hypothesis that an association of bone lipids with protein facilitates the local transport of bone morphogenetic proteins warrants further investigation.
Use of an autosampler for dynamic headspace extraction of volatile compounds from grains and effect of added water on the extraction.

An autosampler attached to a purge and trap instrument was used to aid routine analyses of grain samples for volatile compounds associated with off-odors. Trapped volatiles were transferred to a ga...
Film dosimetry in the peripheral region using multiple sensitometric curves

We present a method for applying film dosimetry to the peripheral region utilizing multiple sensitometric curves. There are many instances when the dose to the peripheral region outside the field edges is of clinical and/or research interest. Published peripheral dose data may be insufficient if detailed dose modeling is required, and in those cases measurements must be performed. Film dosimetry is an attractive approach for dose measurement in the peripheral region because it integrates dose, overcoming the low-dose-rate problem, and is time efficient, as it acquires an entire plan of data in a single exposure. However, film response increases at energies below approximately 300 keV. As the scattered photon spectrum changes with distance from the field edge, this increased film sensitivity causes changes in the film response along profiles perpendicular to the field edge. A single sensitometric curve is therefore no longer sufficient for accurate conversion of the optical density to dose. Our new method uses multiple sensitometric curves defined at increasing distances from the field edge. To convert an optical density profile, the dose at each point in the profile is defined as a linear combination of the doses calculated using the two sensitometric curves that bracket the point of interest. A single set of sensitometric curves derived at one field size and source-to-surface distance (SSD) can be applied to density profiles for other field sizes and SSDs. We verified our new method by comparison to ion chamber measurements using three different types of film. Agreement with chamber measurements was within 7%, or less than 2 mm in regions of high gradient, over a wide range of field sizes and SSDs.
Insights into the roles of local translation from the axonal transcriptome

Much of our knowledge on the roles of intra-axonal translation derives from the characterization of a small number of individual mRNAs that were found to be localized in axons. However, two recent studies, using large-scale approaches to provide a more comprehensive characterization of the axonal transcriptome, have led to the discovery of thousands of axonal mRNAs. The apparent abundance of mRNAs in axons raises the possibility that local translation has many more functions than previously thought. Here, we review the recent studies that have profiled axonal mRNAs and discuss how the identification of axonal transcripts might point to unappreciated roles for local translation in axons.
RBC transfusion and BMT rejection.

In this issue, Desmarets and colleagues examine whether transfused RBCs themselves participate in priming the immune response against subsequent allogeneic BMT.[1][1] An early conundrum in clinical transplantation was that previous red blood cell (RBC) transfusions may reduce the risk of solid
A subgroup of Tourette's patients overexpress specific natural killer cell genes in blood: A preliminary report

Gilles de la Tourette Syndrome (TS) is a heritable, neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by motor and vocal tics. As no single gene or region has emerged from standard linkage approaches, TS may result from several as-yet-unidentified genetic factors, and may also occur due to infection-triggered, autoimmune processes. Etiological or pathogenic differences might result in clinically indistinguishable TS subgroups. We have previously used whole genome human oligonucleotide microarrays in an attempt to identify patterns of gene expression in blood linked with TS. In this proof-of-principle study, we applied Principal Components Analysis to a previously collected set of 16 familial TS and 16 control blood samples to identify subgroups. Fourteen genes, primarily Natural Killer Cell (NK) genes, discriminated between TS and all controls. Granzyme B and NKG7 were confirmed using RT-PCR. Five probesets (four genes) reside in chromosomal regions previously linked to familial TS or obsessive-compulsive disorder. Using the 14 genes, a Principal Components Analysis as well as a cluster analysis identified a TS subgroup (n = 10/16) that overexpressed the NK genes. 7/10 subjects within this subgroup were diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), suggesting that this expression profile might be associated with TS and co-morbid ADHD. Principal Components Analysis of gene expression in blood may be useful for identifying subgroups of other complex neurodevelopmental diseases, and the gene expression profile identified in this study may provide a biomarker for at least one subgroup of heritable TS. © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Hydrolyzed reactive dyes. Part 1: Analyses via fast atom bombardment and electrospray mass spectrometry

This paper provides a summary of results from the use of negative ion fast atom bombardment (FAB) and negative ion electrospray (ES) mass spectrometry to characterize dye structures remaining following the dyeing of cotton with reactive dyes. It was found that the ES method gave peaks of higher relative abundance in the molecular weight region and better signal to noise ratios than the FAB ionization process.
Cloud Computing: Case Studies and Total Cost of Ownership

This paper consists of four major sections: The first section is a literature review of cloud computing and a cost model. The next section focuses on detailed overviews of cloud computing and its levels of services: SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS. Major cloud computing providers are introduced, including Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google App Engine. Finally, case studies of implementing web applications on IaaS and PaaS using AWS, Linode and Google AppEngine are demonstrated. Justifications of running on an IaaS provider (AWS) and running on a PaaS provider (Google AppEngine) are described. The last section discusses costs and technology analysis comparing cloud computing with local managed storage and servers. The total costs of ownership (TCO) of an AWS small instance are significantly lower, but the TCO of a typical 10TB space in Amazon S3 are significantly higher. Since Amazon offers lower storage pricing for huge amounts of data, the TCO might be lower. Readers should do their own analysis on the TCOs.
Susceptibility of GNSS sensors to RFI

A derivation from basic principles is presented of GLONASS receiver in-band susceptibility levels suitable for Category I approach use. The derived limits are -113.5 dBm for interference bandwidths less than 500 kHz and -110.5 dBm/MHz for greater than 500 kHz. The limits are more stringent at the wide and narrow bandwidth extremes than the existing ARINC standard. Also derived are wide and narrow bandwidth GPS limits which are consistent with RTCA/DO-229 except for a 2 dB lower CW level.
Parallel replica method for dynamics of infrequent events

Although molecular-dynamics simulations can be parallelized effectively to treat large systems (10{sup 6}{endash}10{sup 8} atoms), to date the power of parallel computers has not been harnessed to make analogous gains in {ital time} scale. I present a simple approach for infrequent-event systems that extends the time scale with high parallel efficiency. Integrating a replica of the system independently on each processor until the first transition occurs gives the correct transition-time distribution, and hence the correct dynamics. I obtain {gt}90{percent} efficiency simulating Cu(100) surface vacancy diffusion on 15 processors. {copyright} {ital 1998} {ital The American Physical Society}
Preventing unintentional pediatric injuries: a tailored intervention for parents and providers

The purpose of this study was to determine the efficacy of providing (i) tailored injury prevention information (T-IPI) to parents and (ii) concurrent T-IPI to parents and providers to promote parent adoption of safety practices. During wellchild visits, parents of children ages 4 and younger completed a computer assessment and were randomized to receive generic injury prevention information, T-IPI or T-IPI supplemented with a tailored summary for providers. Followup assessments were completed by telephone 1 month later. Parents receiving T-IPI alone or with supplementary provider information were more likely to report adopting a new injury prevention behavior than those receiving generic information (49 and 45%, respectively, compared with 32%; odds ratio 5 2.0 and 1.9, respectively), and these effects were greatest among the least educated parents. In addition, more complicated behavior changes were reported by those receiving tailored information. Provider receipt of feedback did not result in significantly different provider‐parent communication or change in parents’ safety practices. Providing parents with individually tailored pediatric injury prevention information may be an effective method for delivering injury prevention anticipatory guidance. Tailoring may have particular utility for more complicated behaviors and for communication with less educated parents.
The blood-brain and blood-tumor barriers: A review of strategies for increasing drug delivery

Drug delivery to brain tumors has been a controversial subject. Some believe the blood-brain barrier is not important, while others believe it is the major obstacle in treatment and have devised innovative approaches to circumvent it. These approaches can be divided into two categories: those that attempt to increase drug delivery of intravascularly administered drugs by manipulating either the drugs or capillary permeability, and those that attempt to increase drug delivery by local administration. Several strategies have been developed to increase the fraction of intravascular drug reaching the tumor, including intra-arterial administration, barrier disruption, new ways of packaging drugs, and, most recently, inhibiting drug efflux from tumor. When given intravascularly, all drugs have a common drawback: the body acts as a sink, and, even in the best situations, only a small fraction of administered drug actually reaches the tumor. A consequence is that systemic toxicity is usually the dose-limiting factor. When given locally, such as into the cerebrospinal fluid or directly into the tumor, 100% of an administered dose is delivered to the target site. However, local delivery is associated with variable and unpredictable spatial distribution and variation in drug concentration. The major dose-limiting factor of most local delivery methods will be neurotoxicity. The relative advantages and disadvantages of the different methods of circumventing the blood-brain barrier are presented in this review, and special attention is given to convection-enhanced delivery, which has particular promise for the local delivery of large therapeutic agents such as monoclonal antibodies, antisense oligonucleotides, or viral vectors.
Prediction and prevention of ischemic placental disease

Preeclampsia, intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), and placental abruption are obstetrical conditions that constitute the syndrome of ischemic placental disease or IPD, the leading cause of indicated preterm birth and an important cause of neonatal morbidity and mortality. While the phenotypic manifestations vary significantly for preeclampsia, IUGR, and abruption, these conditions may share a common underlying etiology as evidenced by: (1) shared clinical risk factors, (2) increased recurrence risk across pregnancies as well as increased co-occurrence of IPD conditions within a pregnancy, and (3) findings that suggest the underlying pathophysiologic processes may be similar. IPD is of major clinical importance and accounts for a large proportion of indicated preterm delivery ranging from the periviable to late preterm period. Successful prevention of IPD and resultant preterm delivery could substantially improve neonatal and maternal outcomes. This article will review the following topics: (1) The complicated research literature on aspirin and the prevention of preeclampsia and IUGR. (2) Research evidence on other medical interventions to prevent IPD. (3) New clinical interventions currently under investigations, including statins. (4) Current clinical recommendations for prevention of ischemic placental disease.
Prenatal Sonographic Detection of Isolated Fetal Choroid Plexus Cysts: Should We Screen for Trisomy 18?

It has been established that the finding of a fetal choroid plexus cyst confers an increased risk of aneuploidy, predominantly trisomy 18. In view of this association many investigators have advocated amniocentesis when a choroid plexus cyst is identified by prenatal ultrasonography. A risk/benefit and economic analysis of such a policy is presented. When the following factors are taken into account-published data on the frequency of isolated choroid plexus cysts in second trimester fetuses, the risk of trisomy 18 in these fetuses, the population frequency of trisomy 18, the natural history and prognosis for these infants, and the risks and cost of amniocentesis--it is concluded that performing amniocentesis on second trimester fetuses with choroid plexus cysts is neither cost effective nor beneficial. For the detection of one infant with trisomy 18 that will survive past five months, 25 normal fetuses would be lost owing to amniocentesis. Identification of trisomy 18 by determining the presence of choroid plexus cysts in fetuses is not a worthwhile screening policy.
Retinal laser Doppler velocimetry: toward its computer-assisted clinical use

Clinical use of laser Doppler velocimetry of absolute red blood cell velocity V(max) in the center of major retinal vessels becomes possible with recent advances in microcomputer technology- Speed and automation of Doppler photocurrent analysis and identification of proper laser beam positioning are the major requirements in making direct quantitative assessment of retinal hemodynamics a routine diagnostic tool. We discuss our efforts toward achieving this goal and illustrate our current capabilities with examples of changes in retinal blood flow in response to physiologic maneuvers. In veins, V(max) can now be determined on-line. In arteries, current computing speed only supports intermittent on-line data acquisition.
Reverse engineering of legacy code exposed

Reverse engineering of large legacy software systems generally cannot meet its objectives because it cannot be cost-effective. There are two main reasons for this. First, it is very costly to "understand" legacy code sufficiently well to permit changes to be made safely, because reverse engineering of legacy code is intractable in the usual computational complexity sense. Second, even if legacy code could be cost-effectively reverse engineered, the ultimate objective - re-engineering code to create a system that will not need to be reverse engineered again in the future - is presently unattainable. Not just crusty old systems, but even ones engineered today, from scratch, cannot escape the clutches of intractability until software engineers learn to design systems that support modular reasoning about their behavior. We hope these observations serve as a wake-up call to those who dream of developing high-quality software systems by transforming them from defective raw materials.
Direct optimization, affine gap costs, and node stability.

The outcome of a phylogenetic analysis based on DNA sequence data is highly dependent on the homology-assignment step and may vary with alignment parameter costs. Robustness to changes in parameter costs is therefore a desired quality of a data set because the final conclusions will be less dependent on selecting a precise optimal cost set. Here, node stability is explored in relationship to separate versus combined analysis in three different data sets, all including several data partitions. Robustness to changes in cost sets is measured as number of successive changes that can be made in a given cost set before a specific clade is lost. The changes are in all cases base change cost, gap penalties, and adding/removing/changing affine gap costs. When combining data partitions, the number of clades that appear in the entire parameter space is not remarkably increased, in some cases this number even decreased. However, when combining data partitions the trees from cost sets including affine gap costs were always more similar than the trees were from cost sets without affine gap costs. This was not the case when the data partitions were analyzed independently. When data sets were combined ∼80% of the clades found under cost sets including affine gap costs resisted at least one change to the cost set.
Variational Bayesian Learning for Mixture Autoregressive Models With Uncertain-Order

Autoregressive (AR) models are fundamental tools for modeling a variety of signals in many fields of study. Selecting the appropriate order for AR models is typically accomplished using an information criterion to compare the models learned for all orders under consideration. The use of an information criterion for model order selection becomes increasingly computationally demanding when AR models are used as part of larger statistical models, such as mixture models, that have their own model order selection issues. Statistical models utilizing Dirichlet process (DP) priors provide a mechanism for automatically selecting the number of components within a mixture model, and have previously been utilized with AR components. These previous investigations utilize different priors for the AR parameters to enable automatic selection of the AR order and each makes us of computationally expensive Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) sampling. This paper develops and evaluates a variational Bayesian (VB) inference procedure for the parameters of DP mixtures of AR components with uncertain order, to enable rapid parameter inference for AR based statistical models that provide automatic model order selection and is suitable for large scale problems. The previously utilized priors for AR models with uncertain order are evaluated to determine which is more appropriate for VB inference and the ability of the VB inference procedure for the developed model to correctly determine the number of mixture components and the AR order of each of the mixture components is shown to be comparable to computationally intensive MCMC inference. The VB inference procedure is then applied to an acoustic signal classification problem to illustrate the efficacy of AR based statistical models utilizing automated model order selection for real-world signal processing tasks.
Wireless circuit and system design: a new undergraduate laboratory

This paper describes an innovative new integrated lecture/laboratory course for electrical engineering juniors. The course, designed as the second course in a year-long sequence in electromagnetics, brings to life fundamental principles of electromagnetics through study of the circuit, signal, and system concepts used in today's wireless communication systems. The course is taught in a new lab whose state-of-the-art fabrication, measurement, and computing facilities provide hands-on experience in design, measurement, analysis, and simulation of circuits and systems.
Spectral Estimation from Irregularly Spaced Data

Observational data often is irregularly taken or has large gaps due to instrument failure or other real world effects. Yet no spectral estimation theory in use allows one, without dubious interpolation, to estimate spectra from an irregularly sampled signal, nor to combine pieces of record to estimate power at periods longer than the longest piece. A natural extension of conventional complex demodulation is proposed and illustrated for estimating auto- and cross-spectra. The sampling times can be randomly spaced and need not even be in order. The method reduces to the usual method when the data are equally spaced.
Consistent high-dimensional Bayesian variable selection via penalized credible regions.

For high-dimensional data, particularly when the number of predictors greatly exceeds the sample size, selection of relevant predictors for regression is a challenging problem. Methods such as sure screening, forward selection, or penalized regressions are commonly used. Bayesian variable selection methods place prior distributions on the parameters along with a prior over model space, or equivalently, a mixture prior on the parameters having mass at zero. Since exhaustive enumeration is not feasible, posterior model probabilities are often obtained via long Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) runs. The chosen model can depend heavily on various choices for priors and also posterior thresholds. Alternatively, we propose a conjugate prior only on the full model parameters and use sparse solutions within posterior credible regions to perform selection. These posterior credible regions often have closed-form representations, and it is shown that these sparse solutions can be computed via existing algorithms. The...
The Future of Modes of Data Collection

This article reviews recent trends in modes of survey data col- lection, with a view to speculating on the future of survey modes. I dis- cuss the development of the idea of modes, review the many dimensions of mode, briefly review some of the research on mode differences, discuss recent developments in mixed mode surveys, and offer some thoughts on the likely future of modes of survey data collection.
An LPC-based spectral similarity measure for speech recognition in the presence of co-channel speech interference

The authors present an alternative to the enhancement paradigm for cochannel speech recognition, in which target-interference separation and target recognition occur simultaneously, driven by a model of the recognition vocabulary. The method is based on an LPC (linear predictive coding) spectral similarity measure which allows a reference spectrum to match only a subset of the poles of a noisy input spectrum, rather than requiring a whole-spectrum comparison. A preliminary evaluation of the proposed method in a speaker-trained isolated-digit recognition task suggests a reduction in error rate of 50-70% at low target-interference ratios, as compared to a conventional whole-spectrum similarity measure. >
DISCRETE STURM-LIOUVILLE PROBLEMS WITH PARAMETER IN THE BOUNDARY CONDITIONS

This paper deals with discrete second order Sturm-Liouville problems in which the parameter that is part of the Sturm-Liouville difference equation also appears linearly in the boundary conditions....
Effect of metal contaminants in pre-gate oxide cleans for sub-100-nm devices

Metal contaminants at trace levels in the pre-gate oxide clean solutions have always been a concern with scaling down trends in CMOS-based devices. The effect of multielement contamination (alkali, transition, and noble metals up to 200 ppb levels) in dilute hydrofluoric acid (DHF), standard clean one (SC1), and standard clean two (SC2) solutions is investigated for an Intel Pentium-based sub-100-nm microprocessor technology. The main significance of this work is to achieve a rational specification for process chemical purity. Results from surface analyses of monitor wafers and device level electrical measurements of production scale wafers along with yield and reliability analyses are presented in this paper. Deposition of metallic contaminants from clean solutions has been explained qualitatively based on electrochemical theory of reduction potentials. Among the 35 elements investigated in this study, only platinum at very low parts-per-billion levels in the HF-based cleans has been found to affect the gate oxide integrity producing zero yield. An increase in the surface roughness (2-8/spl times/) was also observed with silicon monitor wafers for 100-ppb-platinum-contaminated DHF solutions and could play an important role in degrading the gate oxide performance. Other alkali and transition metals including copper up to 200 ppb levels in the HF-based cleans studied here did not show any deleterious effects in the gate oxide integrity and product reliability measurements. The effect of contamination in the SC1 and SC2 cleans was negligible even for 100 ppb platinum. Significant cost reduction can be realized by safely relaxing the process chemical contamination disposition limits for alkali and transition elements.
Impact of fipronil residues on mole cricket (Orthoptera: Gryllotalpidae) behavior and mortality in bermudagrass.

Abstract In a greenhouse experiment, fipronil was applied at 0.014 kg ai/ha to bermudagrass, Cynodon dactylon L., in plastic 5-liter containers 120, 90, 60, 30, and 0 days before adding one tawny mole cricket nymph, Scapteriscus vicinus Scudder to the container. After the exposure period, soil in the containers was divided into depth increments of 0-4, 4-8, and 8-18 cm, and cricket status was recorded as dead, absent, or alive by thoroughly examining soil. Soil in the 0-4 cm-increment was analyzed for fipronil and four fipronil metabolite residues. Fipronil residue concentrations decreased with time (C = 0.00002x2 - 0.0053x + 0.3675, R2 = 0.9998 where C = fipronil concentration (μg/g of soil) and x = days after treatment). Concentrations of two metabolites, fipronil sulfone and fipronil sulfide, increased as fipronil residues decreased. Each treatment’s affect on late instar mole crickets was significantly different from the non-treated; however, there were no significant differences in nymph status among...
Vesuvio Fonderia S.P.A

The managing director of this specialty foundry must decide whether to approve a major investment to automate part of her plant's production process. The case presents information sufficient to build cash flow forecasts of production costs incremental to this investment. Discounted cash flow (DCF) analysis reveals that this investment project is attractive but that the benefits hinge on important assumptions about plant volume of business and the manager's ability to lay off workers over the objections of the union. The case may be used as a simple introduction to DCF analysis of investment projects by focusing on the analytical mechanics. The case can also be used to introduce students to the classic trade-offs in the capital-for-labor investment decision.
Projection pursuit multi-index (PPMI) models

The concept of joint projective directions and the class of projection pursuit multi-index (PPMI) models are introduced. PPMI models are MI models with hierarchically defined directions spanning the central mean subspace, and bridge the gap between PP and MI models.
Adapting More Progressive Refractory Coating Measurement Controls

The Baume test to control the dilution of refractory coatings adds variability to the % solids of the coating. Increasing the variability in the % solids translates to changes in the refractory dry deposit on the core’s surface and molds which ultimately results in an increased number of casting defects and changes to the dimensions of the casting. The foundry industry is in need of more progressive refractory coating measurement controls for reducing application variability. In this study, a set of standard test methods used to characterize the flow and leveling properties of paper coatings were used to characterize the properties of foundry coatings. The solids of the coatings were varied and the Baume number of each coating measured.
Antigenic differences among bovine and porcine Factor VIII concentrates.

Three anti-Factor-VIII antibodies from hemophiliacs were reacted with samples of batches of Maws commercial bovine and porcine Factor VIII concentrates manufactured over a 12-year period. The apparent antibody concentrations varied widely with the different batches of concentrates. The variations are probably due to intrinsic differences in the antigenic nature of the Factor VIII in the different preparations. With the older porcine concentrates, the low apparent concentrations may be in part due to the reaction of antibody with inactive Factor VIII. When animal Factor VIII concentrates are used in treating hemophiliac patients who have anti-Factor-VIII antibodies, the least reactive batch should be chosen. Random batches of animal concentrates are not suited as a standard for measuring anti-Factor-VIII antibody concentration.
Detecting results of iodized salt consumed by the resident s in Anning district of Lanzhou from 2012-2014

Objective: To detect the condition of iodized salt consumption of anning Lanzhou of Gansu Province, and provide scientific evidence for sustained elimination of iodine deficiency disorders and its control. Methods:During 2012-2014, in the accordance with the requirement of intervention scheme, 1 sample of edible salt was sampled fome 15 families in each village,totally 20 villages of 8towns were all covered annually. Results:A total of 900 samples of edible salt were collected and detected in 3 years,among which 826( 91.78%) were qualified iodized salt,74 were unqualified.Non-iodized salt was not found. The coverage rate of iodized salt was 100.00%in 3 year,the consumption rate of qualified iodized salt was 91.78%. Conclusion:The 3-year-detection confirms,The coverage rate of iodized salt was 100.00%,Among them 2014 households unqualified iodized salt number increased,Qualified iodized salt consumption rate has not reached the 2010 national qualified iodized salt consumption rate of 90% or more goals.
The Practice and Experience on CDC Agencies' Capacity-Building

Disease prevention and control agencies should transform functions and agencies working to improve the strength capacity,facing onerous task and working demand in the new era. What's more,we should change the out-of-date way of thinking and working patterns through the constant strength of institutions for capacity-building practices. At the same time,we should concentrate on transformation of CDC agencies functions,especially in health technology and innovation,simultaneously advancing the hardware and software building institutions to adjust CDC in socio-economic development and people's preventive health care needs.