cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Quantum scattering from arbitrary boundaries

We present a conceptually and numerically simple method for obtaining scattering eigenstates from arbitrary disconnected open or closed boundaries with very general boundary conditions. As a side effect of the derivation, a solution for partially penetrable walls is also found. As in the boundary integral Green-function method, an integral equation over the boundary results; however, our approach uses $\ensuremath{\delta}$-function potentials (which can have finite or infinite strength) to enforce boundary conditions and construct the governing equations, rather than Green's theorem.
Many questions Begs the Question (but questions do not Beg the Question)

The fallacy of many questions or the complex question, popularized by the sophism ‘Have you stopped beating your spouse?’ (when a yes-or-no answer is required), is similar to the fallacy of begging the question orpetitio principii. Douglas N. Walton inBegging the Question has recently argued that the two forms are alike in trying unfairly to elicit an admission from a dialectical opponent without meeting burden of proof, but distinct because of the circularity of question-begging argument and noncircularity of many questions. I offer a reconstruction of the many questions fallacy according to which it is just as circular as begging the question, concluding that many questions begs the question. The same analysis contradicts Walton's claim that questions can beg the question, drawing a distinction between questions as the instruments of question-begging, and as vehicles for categorical noninterrogative presuppositions that beg the question.
Understanding network concepts in modules

Network concepts are increasingly used in biology and genetics. For example, the clustering coefficient has been used to understand network architecture; the connectivity (also known as degree) has been used to screen for cancer targets; and the topological overlap matrix has been used to define modules and to annotate genes. Dozens of potentially useful network concepts are known from graph theory. Here we study network concepts in special types of networks, which we refer to as approximately factorizable networks. In these networks, the pairwise connection strength (adjacency) between 2 network nodes can be factored into node specific contributions, named node 'conformity'. The node conformity turns out to be highly related to the connectivity. To provide a formalism for relating network concepts to each other, we define three types of network concepts: fundamental-, conformity-based-, and approximate conformity-based concepts. Fundamental concepts include the standard definitions of connectivity, density, centralization, heterogeneity, clustering coefficient, and topological overlap. The approximate conformity-based analogs of fundamental network concepts have several theoretical advantages. First, they allow one to derive simple relationships between seemingly disparate networks concepts. For example, we derive simple relationships between the clustering coefficient, the heterogeneity, the density, the centralization, and the topological overlap. The second advantage of approximate conformity-based network concepts is that they allow one to show that fundamental network concepts can be approximated by simple functions of the connectivity in module networks. Using protein-protein interaction, gene co-expression, and simulated data, we show that a) many networks comprised of module nodes are approximately factorizable and b) in these types of networks, simple relationships exist between seemingly disparate network concepts. Our results are implemented in freely available R software code, which can be downloaded from the following webpage: http://www.genetics.ucla.edu/labs/horvath/ModuleConformity/ModuleNetworks
A new mock circulatory loop and its application to the study of chemical additive and aortic pressure effects on hemolysis in the Penn State electric ventricular assist device.

: A new mock circulatory loop was developed for hemolysis studies associated with the Penn State electric ventricular assist device (EVAD). This flow loop has several advantages over previously designed loops. It is small enough to accommodate experiments in which only single units of blood are available, it is made out of biocompatible materials, it incorporates good geometry, and it provides normal physiological pressures and flows to both the aortic outlet and the venous inlet of the pumping device. Experiments with reduced aortic pressure but normal cardiac output showed that hemolysis in a loop with normal aortic blood pressure was significantly higher than that in a loop with lowered aortic pressure, thereby illustrating the importance of maintaining loop pressures as close as possible to those found in vivo. This data also imply that blood traveling through the left ventricle in an artificial heart may be subject to higher hemolysis rates than that traversing the right ventricle. Another set of experiments to determine the effects of 4 hemolysis or drag-reducing agents (Pluronic F-68, Dextran-40, Polyox WSR-301, and Praestol 2273TR) on blood trauma due to the EVAD and associated valves was performed. Results indicated that none of the additives significantly reduced hemolysis under the conditions found in the mock loop. Finally, a compilation of data gathered in these experiments showed that the index of hemolysis (IH) is dependent on hematocrit (HCT), which suggests that another parameter, IH/HCT, may be more suited to the quantification of hemolysis.
Caring for relatives with early stage Alzheimer's disease: An exploratory study

This article describes an exploratory study involving semi-structured interviews with 20 primary caregivers of persons in the early stage of Alzheimer's disease. The challenges unique to the early stage of the disease are explained and illustrated through interview excerpts. The issues and themes of these interviews are summarized. Implications for practice are also discussed.
Temperature-dependent photodissociation dynamics of ICN at 262 nm

Abstract Transient frequency-modulation (FM) Doppler spectroscopy has been used to measure scalar and vector correlations in state-selected CN fragments arising from the photodissociation of ICN at 262 nm at both 296 and 550 K. We find that the state-selected I * /I branching ratio changes significantly with increased temperature, consistent with the increased width of the state-dependent CN rotational distribution. However, we find little change in the state-selected vector properties suggesting that thermal modification of the initial parent vibrational distribution is not a sensitive means to probe the nonadiabatic dynamics.
STUDIES ON THE ARTHROPOD FAUNA OF ALFALFA: II. ARTHROPOD–FUNGUS ASSOCIATIONS

Observations were made during 1967 to 1969 at Ithaca, N.Y., supplemented by collections at New Cumberland and Carlisle, Pa., on arthropods associated with fungi occurring on alfalfa, Medicago saliva L. Five species of Coleoptera, two species of Diptera, one species each of Collembola and Psocoptera, and nine species of Acari were reared or collected consistently from fungus-covered alfalfa leaves, stems, and seed pods. Attraction to fungi on the plants, principally Alternaria sp., accounted for the presence on alfalfa of arthropod species that normally might be considered as accidentals or visitors. The mycetophagous species thus contributed to the richness of the alfalfa fauna. Immature stages of several species were collected only in late fall or on 3- or 4-year-old plants. The possible role of the fungus-feeding species in seasonal changes in the alfalfa fauna and changes in the fauna in successive years is discussed.
Porosity Fluctuations in Desiccating Samples of Grout-Stabilized Soil

Contaminant migration from polluted sites that are excessively permeable to fluids can be minimized by ground stabilization through grouting with cementitious materials. Analyses of the long term drying process of 2.75 mm diameter samples of cement–bentonite grouted soils from Dover, Del. in an environmental chamber maintained at a temperature of 25°C and relative humidity of 30% indicate that for most samples, the water-filled porosity (0.02–0.033) varied in a quasi-sinusoidal pattern with respect to drying time. Measurements of ultrasonic wave transit time with a James V-Meter correlated in time, with moisture loss determinations by weight loss measurements, show that in the initial 0–65 day drying period, the escape of moisture and consequent increase in air-filled porosity is responsible for the decrease in ultrasonic pulse velocity. Thereafter, increases in pulse velocity values ranging from 50 to 260 m∕s observed for the reaction products at sustained drying at 25°C, provide enough activation energy...
Femtosecond direct-writing of waveguide in non-oxide glasses

We describe the fabrication of waveguides in optical materials using a femtosecond laser. The direct laser writing technique has the unique advantage of allowing volume structures to be fabricated. We investigate several writing schemes in non-oxide glasses and characterize the photo-induced modifications of the optical properties. These changes are linked to structural changes in the glass matrix, as revealed by Raman spectroscopy.
Dynamic Understanding of Human-Skin Movement and Strain-Field Analysis

Understanding the skin's material properties and natural motion is critical to a myriad of applications from tissue engineering to spacesuits. While there is an extensive understanding of human skin properties based on active tensile testing, both in vitro and in vivo, there is a little current knowledge of the strains experienced by skin during natural movements. Using a motion capture system, we have developed a new technique to measure skin movement and strain around the knee during a squatting motion. With these new data, we are also able to calculate the local direction of lines of nonextension, or contours of the skin that remain a constant length during motion, lines of minimum extension, and lines of minimum compression.
The Loyal Genetic Doctor, Otmar Freiherr von Verschuer, and the Institut für Erbbiologie und Rassenhygiene: Origins, Controversy, and Racial Political Practice

Reporting on the results of the 1935 World Population Conference hosted in the capital of the “new Germany” for members of the nation's medical community, the renowned racial anthropologist and director of the prestigious Kaiser-Wilhelm-Institut fur Anthropologie, menschliche Erblehre und Eugenik (KWIA), Eugen Fischer (1874–1967), commented on the significance of a new type of physician, one whose duties were intricately linked with the goals of the Nazi state. Just as the house doctor of old was able to prevent and recognize when an individual patient was in imminent medical danger by having carefully watched over his charge—intervening when necessary—so, too, must the Erbarzt (genetic doctor) do the same for the entire Volk by overseeing, and, if need be, managing, the hereditary lineages of all its composite members. This not merely entailed evaluating the trajectory of genetic diseases in different segments of the German population, but it also demanded something equally important. “As getreuer Ekkehardt [loyal Ekkehardt] with his hand on the pulse of the life of his Volk,” Fischer commented, the genetic doctor had to supervise its racial purity. This was to ensure that its racial essence—the presupposition of all cultural and mental attributes of the Volk—was inherited unchanged.
Homeownership and Social Attachment

A multivariate analysis of survey data collected by Claude Fischer (1982) in northern California is used to test whether or not homeownership is associated with attitudes and behaviors that seem su...
Comparison of the prevalence of asthma and severity in public vs. private schools in New Orleans, LA

Abstract Rationale To compare the prevalence of asthma and asthma-related symptoms and severity between inner-city schoolchildren attending parochial schools and those enrolled in public schools in New Orleans. Methods Students attending New Orleans public and private schools (1460) were screened for asthma using the International Study of Asthma and Allergy in Childhood (ISAAC) in fall 2001. The ISAAC questionnaire assessed current, past and undiagnosed asthma as well as asthma severity in the schoolchildren. The X2 test compared asthma-related outcomes by age, gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic status and school type. P values of Results The sample was 55% female, 82% African-American, and (54% public school. Mean age of the sample was 10.58 years (s.d. 3.90). Students in public schools were significantly more likely to report wheezing ever ( p p p p p p p p p p Conclusions Schoolchildren from similar inner-city New Orleans neighborhoods have very different degrees of asthma prevalence and severity when examined by school orientation. Asthma prevalence and severity are significantly greater in schoolchildren who attend public schools compared to those in parochial schools in New Orleans inner-city.
Integrating Simulink with other Simulation Environments

Modeling, simulation, and code generation are vital technologies for developing aerospace systems. The ability to integrate models from commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) tools into large software programs used as corporate or program-wide simulation environments is becoming increasingly important. Techniques for generating code from Simulink® models and integrating that code into corporate simulation environments are described herein. The techniques are based on actual aerospace use cases, and examples are shown using MathWorks products [1].
Psychiatric symptoms and HIV risk in MMPI-2 cluster subgroups of polysubstance abusers in treatment.

This investigation identified personality subgroups based upon cluster analysis of MMPI-2 records of polysubstance abusers. Subgroups were compared on lifetime and current psychiatric symptoms and on attitudes and behaviors linked with HIV infection risk. High psychopathology, mild psychopathology, and subclinical MMPI-2 cluster types were identified which resemble those that have been identified in earlier studies with the original version of the MMPI. The High Psychopathology Subgroup had significantly higher proportions with all lifetime psychiatric problems (ASI), higher levels of all current psychiatric symptoms (SCL-90), and lower levels of confidence in ability to enact safer sexual practices than the Subclinical Cluster Subgroup. Fewer differences in lifetime and concurrent psychiatric symptoms were found in comparisons involving High Pathology and Mild Pathology cluster subgroups and Mild Psychopathology and Subclinical cluster subgroups. Those in the High Psychopathology Subgroup likely need treatment programs that address their more chronic and serious mental health problems and interventions that target their judgment and problem solving limitations that may increase HIV infection risk.
Mechanisms of reaction wave propagation during combustion synthesis of advanced materials

Abstract Using a digital high-speed microscopic video recording technique developed in our laboratory, we have investigated hightemperature combustion synthesis waves in the Ni+Al system. Based on the results obtained, we identify characteristic features of rapid high-temperature reaction wave propagation in heterogeneous media. It is shown that, while at time scales ∼10-1 s the reaction wave propagation appears to be steady, at time scales ∼10-3 s it exhibits features of hesitations followed by jumps, and at even faster time scales ∼10-4 s is shown to follow a novel scintillating reaction wave mechanism.
Regulation of rat adrenal medullary enkephalins by glucocorticoids

Opioid peptides and their precursors of the proenkephalin family are found in the chromaffin cells of the rat adrenal medulla in low quantities. However, if the gland is denervated, there is a 10 to 20-fold increase in enkephalin-containing (EC) peptides consisting mostly of the precursor proenkephalin. The denervation-induced rise in medullary EC peptides is blocked by hypophysectomy, and partially reinstated by corticosterone, dexamethasone or ACTH treatment. In the intact rat, intermediate doses of corticosterone or dexamethasone reduce the denervation-induced increase in EC peptides, while a high dose of dexamethasone restores this response. These results indicate that glucocorticoids exert a permissive effect in vivo on the denervation-induced stimulation of EC peptide biosynthesis.
The effects of endotoxin on glutamine transport by pulmonary artery endothelial cells.

Abstract The effects of endotoxin on glutamine transport by cultured pulmonary artery endothelial cells (PAECs) were studied in order to gain further insight into the regulation of the altered lung glutamine metabolism that characterizes severe infection. Incubation of PAECs with endotoxin (1 μg/ml) resulted in a significant increase in System ASC-mediated glutamine transport which did not occur for 8 hr and was maximal after 12 hr of exposure. Kinetic studies indicated that the increase in carrier-mediated activity was not due to a change in K m (101 ± 6 μ M in controls vs 97 ± 4 μ M in endotoxin-treated cells, P = NS ), but rather to a 73% increase in V max (840 ± 60 pmole/mg protein/30 sec in controls vs 1450 ± 80 in endotoxin-treated cells, P
Parents as Teachers of Children with Autism in the Peoples' Republic of China.

Abstract In the People's Republic of China, many children with autism are excluded from government supported schools and parents are expected to deliver educational services. Parent training center...
Traumatic Acid and Thiamin as Growth Factors for Algae

Bottomley and, especially, Ashby [2] showed that Lemna develops well in a purely inorganic medium, although it thrives better if some organic matter, such as a soil extract, is added. The addition of soil extract and other chemically ill-defined organic matters [3] to the culture medium of algae is a general practice [4]. Since the chemistry of many plant hormones has become known in recent years it seemed of interest to see in which respect they affect the growth of algae. Yin [5] studied the effect of auxin on Chlorella and found an inhibition of the multiplication but an increase of the individual cell size. Pratt [6]. however, found just the reverse, an increase in cell number and no increase in cell size. Recently English, Bonner and Haagen-Smit [7] isolated and synthesized traumatic acid (1-decene-1, 10 dicarboxylic acid), a wound hormone of plants, which causes considerable proliferation and elongation of parenchymatous tissues (bean pods and potato tubers). On the assumption that this substance might exhibit similar properties on plant cells in general, it was added to the sterile cultures of unicellular algae [8] in order to determine whether it promotes the growth. Traumatic acid indeed proved to be highly effective in promoting multiplication of the culture, as is shown in the table for Scenedesmus obliquus, Sc. bijugatus, Sc. brasiliensis and Palmellococcus miniatus. Similar results were obtained with Coccomyxa subellipsoidea forma putridena, Kirchneriella spec.?, Coelastrum proboscideum var. gracilis and Stichococcus bacillaris [9].
Transport of intensity imaging with TV regularization and nonlinear diffusion denoising

We quantify the effect of noise on phase retrieved using transport of intensity equation, and demonstrate the application of total variation regularization and non-linear diffusion techniques for improving the accuracy of the retrieved phase.
Formation of airborne-respirable dust at belt conveyor transfer points.

A laboratory study of the formation of airborne respirable dust by the dropping of broken bituminous coal from a belt conveyor is described. It was found that about 10% of the respirable dust adhering to the broken coal becomes airborne owning to dislodgment upon impact. The specific formation of airborne dust is correlated empirically with the volume fraction of the falling coal, which is determined by the belt speed, the thickness of the coal layer on the belt surface, the material density, the bulk density, the angle of repose, the size of the broken coal, and the height of fall. Results are interpreted in terms of the shock dislodgement of dust particles adhering to the broken coal, and the dispersion of the dislodged particles by the surge of air from the space gaps in the impacting pieces.
Mutations within the Putative Membrane-Spanning Domain of the Simian Immunodeficiency Virus Transmembrane Glycoprotein Define the Minimal Requirements for Fusion, Incorporation, and Infectivity

The membrane-spanning domain (MSD) of a number of retroviral transmembrane (TM) glycoproteins, including those from the human and simian immunodeficiency viruses (HIV and SIV), have been predicted to contain a charged arginine residue. The wild-type SIV TM glycoprotein is 354 amino acids long. The entire putative cytoplasmic domain of SIV (amino acids 193 to 354) is dispensable for virus replication in vitro, and such truncation-containing viruses are capable of reaching wild-type titers after a short delay. We show here that further truncation of eight additional amino acids to TM185 results in a protein that lacks fusogenicity but is, nevertheless, efficiently incorporated into budding virions. By analyzing a series of nonsense mutations between amino acids 193 and 185 in Env expression vectors and in the SIVmac239 proviral clone, a region of the SIV TM that contains the minimum requirement for glycoprotein-mediated cell-to-cell fusion and that for virus replication was identified. Virus entry and infectivity were evident in truncations to a minimum of 189 amino acids, whereas cell-cell fusion was observed for a protein of only 187 amino acids. Glycoprotein was efficiently incorporated into budding virions in truncations up to 185 amino acids, indicating that such proteins are membrane anchored and are transported to the cell surface. However, truncation of the TM to 180 amino acids resulted in a protein that displays a transport defect and may be retained in the endoplasmic reticulum. Based on our analyses of these mutants, an alternative model for the MSD of SIV is proposed. Our model suggests that membrane-imbedded charged residues can be neutralized by side-chain interactions with lipid polar head groups. As a consequence, the membrane-spanning region can be reduced by more than a helical turn. This new model accounts for the ability of truncations within the predicted MSD to remain membrane anchored and maintain biological activity.
The use of the national information infrastructure and high performance computers in industry

We divide potential NII (National Information Infrastructure) services into five broad areas: Collaboration and televirtuality; InfoVISiON (Information, Video, Imagery, and Simulation on Demand), and digital libraries; commerce; metacomputing; WebTop productivity services. The latter denotes the broad suite of tools we expect to be offered on the Web in a general environment we term WebWindous. We review current and future World Wide Web technologies, which could underlie these services. In particular we suggest an integration framework WebWork for high performance (parallel and distributed) computing and the NII. We point out that pervasive WebWork and WebWindows technologies will enable, facilitate and substantially accelerate such complex software processes on the NII. We briefly analyze seven broad application areas: society; business enterprises; health care; defense command and control, and crisis management; education; collaboratory; manufacturing. We contrast their use of NII services with a more detailed examination of the manufacture of complex systems, such as aircraft and automobiles. This application stresses the NII but there is a remarkable opportunity to develop new manufacturing practices that offer cost savings and reduced time to market.
A latent capacity of the C. elegans polycystins to disrupt sensory transduction is repressed by the single-pass ciliary membrane protein CWP-5

SUMMARY Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) results from loss-of-function mutations in PKD1 or PKD2. The products of these genes, the polycystins PC-1 and PC-2, form a transmembrane channel that is necessary for flow sensing by renal cilia. In C. elegans, the polycystin orthologs LOV-1 and PKD-2 function in sensory neurons that mediate male mating behavior. Here, we report that the novel single-pass membrane protein CWP-5 is necessary for polycystin signaling during the response step of mating behavior. As with the polycystins, CWP-5 localizes to neuronal cilia; this localization requires LOV-1. The response defect of cwp-5 mutants does not appear to result from disruption of ciliogenesis or polycystin localization. Instead, genetic and behavioral analyses indicate that CWP-5 represses a previously undescribed antagonistic effect of the polycystins on sensory function. Although cwp-5 does not have a primary-sequence ortholog in vertebrates, it has intriguing parallels with the autosomal recessive PKD gene FPC (also known as PKHD1). Together, this study identifies a new component of C. elegans polycystin signaling, demonstrates that the polycystins have a latent capacity to hinder sensory transduction, and suggests that aberrant functions of the polycystins could contribute to the pathogenesis of PKD.
Experience with the Abstract Syntax Notation One and the Basic Encoding Rules

The authors discuss their experience in implementing an Abstract Syntax Notation One compiler, ASN.1 is a descriptive notation used to define the informational content of the OSI upper layer protocols. The Basic Encoding Rules are a transfer syntax that may be applied to instances of ASN.1. Collectively, these two protocols solve the disparate data representation problem within an OSI network. The authors describe the purpose and basic features of both ASN.1 and BER, their theoretical disposition within the OSI Reference Model, their practical application that includes the details of this implementation, and finally some insights into the protocols themselves is offered. >
Bandwidth Efficient Channel Estimation Using Super-Imposed Pilots in OFDM Systems

This paper proposes a channel estimation algorithm using super-imposed pilots for OFDM systems. The pilot symbols are added linearly to the modulated data symbol at a fraction of the total transmit power, making the method spectrally efficient. We present a series of iterative and non-iterative receivers in which complexity is traded for performance. In particular, a high complexity non-iterative receiver that achieves the theoretically lowest BER and a low complexity iterative receiver that show near-optimal performance are presented. The proposed iterative receiver offers a 50 - 98% reduction in complexity over a non- iterative receiver having equivalent performance, depending on the modulation used. We observe that the performance of the receiver is independent of the channel's Doppler frequency and delay spread. Finally, we compute an analytic bound for the bit error rate of the proposed non-iterative receiver.
Properties of Maximum Likelihood Male Fertility Estimation in Plant Populations

Computer simulations are used to evaluate maximum likelihood methods for inferring male fertility in plant populations. The maximum likelihood method can provide substantial power to characterize male fertilities at the population level. Results emphasize, however, the importance of adequate experimental design and evaluation of fertility estimates, as well as limitations to inference (e.g., about the variance in male fertility or the correlation between fertility and phenotypic trait value) that can be reasonably drawn.
Historical trends in Florida temperature and precipitation

Because of its low topographic relief, unique hydrology, and the large interannual variability of precipitation, Florida is especially vulnerable to climate change. In this paper, we investigate a comprehensive collection of climate metrics to study historical trends in both averages and extremes of precipitation and temperature in the state. The data investigated consist of long-term records (1892–2008) of precipitation and raw (unadjusted) temperature at 32 stations distributed throughout the state. To evaluate trends in climate metrics, we use an iterative pre-whitening method, which aims to separate positive autocorrelation from trend present in time series. Results show a general decrease in wet season precipitation, most evident for the month of May and possibly tied to a delayed onset of the wet season. In contrast, there seems to be an increase in the number of wet days during the dry season, especially during November through January. We found that the number of dog days (above 26.7 °C) during the year and during the wet season has increased at many locations. For the post-1950 period, a widespread decrease in the daily temperature range (DTR) is observed mainly because of increased daily minimum temperature (Tmin). Although we did not attempt to formally attribute these trends to natural versus anthropogenic causes, we find that the urban heat island effect is at least partially responsible for the increase in Tmin and its corresponding decrease in DTR at urbanized stations compared with nearby rural stations. In the future, a formal trend attribution study should be conducted for the region. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Lung Neutrophils Facilitate Activation of Naive Antigen-Specific CD4+ T Cells during Mycobacterium tuberculosis Infection

Initiation of the adaptive immune response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis occurs in the lung-draining mediastinal lymph node and requires transport of M. tuberculosis by migratory dendritic cells (DCs) to the local lymph node. The previously published observations that 1) neutrophils are a transiently prominent population of M. tuberculosis-infected cells in the lungs early in infection and 2) that the peak of infected neutrophils immediately precedes the peak of infected DCs in the lungs prompted us to characterize the role of neutrophils in the initiation of adaptive immune responses to M. tuberculosis. We found that, although depletion of neutrophils in vivo increased the frequency of M. tuberculosis-infected DCs in the lungs, it decreased trafficking of DCs to the mediastinal lymph node. This resulted in delayed activation (CD69 expression) and proliferation of naive M. tuberculosis Ag85B-specific CD4 T cells in the mediastinal lymph node. To further characterize the role of neutrophils in DC migration, we used a Transwell chemotaxis system and found that DCs that were directly infected by M. tuberculosis migrated poorly in response to CCL19, an agonist for the chemokine receptor CCR7. In contrast, DCs that had acquired M. tuberculosis through uptake of infected neutrophils exhibited unimpaired migration. These results revealed a mechanism wherein neutrophils promote adaptive immune responses to M. tuberculosis by delivering M. tuberculosis to DCs in a form that makes DCs more effective initiators of naive CD4 T cell activation. These observations provide insight into a mechanism for neutrophils to facilitate initiation of adaptive immune responses in tuberculosis.
Integrating multi-sensory input in the body model — A RNN approach to connect visual features and motor control

An internal model of the own body can be assumed to be a central and early representation as such a model is already required in simple behavioural tasks. More and more evidence is showing that such grounded internal models are applied in higher level tasks. Internal models appear to be recruited in service for cognitive function. Understanding what another person is doing seems to rely on the ability to step into the shoes of the other person and map the observed action onto ones own action system. This rules out dedicated and highly specialized models, but presupposes a flexible internal model which can be applied in different context and fulfilling different functions. Here, we are going to present a recurrent neural network approach of an internal body model. The model can be used in the context of movement control, e.g. in reaching tasks, but can also be employed as a predictor, e.g. for planning ahead. The introduced extension allows to integrate visual features into the kinematic model. Simulation results show how in this way the model can be to utilised in perception.
Market Failure and the Environmental Policies of Firms: Economic Rationales for “Beyond Compliance” Behavior

Summary This paper is an inquiry into the circumstances under which the voluntary provision of environmental public goods might be sensible from a firm's point of view. If environmental externalities were the only departure from the economic assumptions of perfect competition, and if no firms had preferential access to superior (low-cost) stocks of natural resources, firms that volunteered to internalize costs could not survive. But because externalities coexist with other departures from the competitive paradigm, such as asymmetric information and oligopoly competition, firms may find it in their shareholders' interests to provide environmental public goods to a greater degree than required by law. A number of firms, especially in Europe and North America, assert that they are pursuing “beyond-compliance” environmental policies. From the perspective of a firm's shareholders, it makes sense to pursue such policies if they increase the firm's expected value or if they appropriately manage business risk. This paper discusses economically rational explanations for such policies. It analyzes the ways in which a firm's chances of financial success in pursuing any one of them are influenced by the firm's market position and organizational capabilities and by the basic structure of the industry in which it competes.
In vivo elastographic investigation of ethanol-induced hepatic lesions

Ethanol-induced hepatic lesions were investigated in swine for in vivo use as a strain imaging animal model. Lesions (n = 25) were induced by injecting ethanol (doses 0.33 to 2.0 mL) directly into the surgically exposed liver at depths of 12, 15 or 25 mm. Lesions were imaged with a modified HDI 1000 scanner (Philips Medical Systems, Bothell, WA, USA). The elastograms (n = 91) characterized lesions as being areas harder than the surrounding soft hepatic tissue. Elastographic lesion sizes and the corresponding injected ethanol dose used to induce the lesions were shown to be statistically significant (r(2) = 0.22; p = 0.029) using a linear regression analysis. Additionally, lesion depth was shown to be statistically insignificant (r(2) 0.10) when regressed against elastographic lesion size. An analysis of elastographic and gross pathology lesion sizes indicated no correlation (r(2) < 0.01; p = 0.973). Subsequently, lesion types were sorted by size and regression lines were computed from quasilinear regions of the corresponding run charts. Trend lines indicate a four-to-three size relationship between the selected elastographic and pathology lesion sizes. Comparison of elastogram lesion sizes from two independent observers using a paired t-test resulted in no statistically significant difference (p = 0.14). In conclusion, ethanol-induced hepatic lesions in swine is a suitable animal model for evaluation of strain-based imaging systems, due to the ease of generation and repeatability.
Risk Factors for Colonization with Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in Patients Admitted to an Urban Hospital: Emergence of Community-Associated MRSA Nasal Carriage

Background Surveillance cultures performed at hospital admission have been recommended to identify patients colonized with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) but require substantial resources. We determined the prevalence of and risk factors for MRSA colonization at the time of hospital admission among patients cared for at a public urban hospital. Methods Anterior nares cultures were obtained within 48 h after admission during a 1-month period. A case-control study and molecular typing studies were performed. Results A total of 53 (7.3%) of 726 patients had a nares culture positive for MRSA, and 119 (16.4%) had a nares culture that was positive for methicillin-susceptible S. aureus. In multivariate analysis, risk factors for MRSA colonization included antibiotic use within 3 months before admission (odds ratio [OR], 2.5; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.2-5.0), hospitalization during the past 12 months (OR, 4.0; 95% CI, 2.0-8.2), diagnosis of skin or soft-tissue infection at admission (OR, 3.4; 95% CI, 1.5-7.9), and HIV infection. A total of 47 (89%) of 53 case patients colonized with MRSA had at least 1 of these independent risk factors, in contrast to 343 (51%) of 673 control patients (OR, 7.5; 95% CI, 3.2 -17.9). Molecular typing demonstrated that 16 (30%) of 53 MRSA nares isolates (2.2% of the 726 isolates) belonged to the USA300 community-associated MRSA (CA-MRSA) genotype. Conclusion The prevalence of MRSA colonization at the time of patient admission was high (>7%). Limiting surveillance cultures to patients with >or=1 of the identified risk factors may allow for targeted screening. The emergence of CA-MRSA colonization represents a new, unrecognized reservoir of MRSA within hospitals, potentially increasing the risk for horizontal transmission.
Daily spiritual experiences in a biracial, community-based population of older adults

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to describe the levels of daily spiritual experiences (DSEs) in community-dwelling older adults, to compare the levels of spiritual experiences with the levels of prayer and religious service attendance, and to examine the demographic and psychosocial correlates of spiritual experiences. The data came from 6534 participants in the Chicago Health and Aging Project, an ongoing population-based, biracial (65% African American) study of the risk factors for incident Alzheimer's disease among older adults. A 5-item version of the Daily Spiritual Experiences Scale (DSES) was used in the study. Multivariable linear regression models were used to examine the relationship between sociodemographic and psychosocial factors and DSES scores. Results: The majority of the participants reported having spiritual experiences at least daily. In the bivariate analyses, African Americans and women had higher DSES scores than Whites and men, respectively (p's < 0.001). Prayer and w...
Atherosclerosis A Personal Overview

The effectiveness of the research endeavor in atherogenesis is searchingly considered because neither how to prevent nor how to cure atherosclerosis is known, and there is no decision about what atherosclerosis looks like. In the overview one of the most serious problems is failure to see the whole problem. Systematic marshalling of detail is vital; yet there must be a longer look. The first broad suggestion is to curtail the divisive trends, view the blood vessels and heart as a whole, and declare unabashedly in favor of atherosclerosis as the prime interest no matter where it appears or under what guise. The time has come when those who study atherosclerosis and myocardial infarction should rethink their approach. Research excellence is the ability to select the few experiments most likely to get at the heart of the matter. An important question is, If the experiment is successful, will it contribute to the solution of the problems of atherogenesis? There is urgent need to reduce the amount of repetitive, almost trivial, investigation and to seek more creative approaches. Several problems are suggested as examples: the neural component, the atherogenic mosaic, and the inextricable association of atherosclerosis with myocardial infarction. Even such sacrosanct rights as how to do research are briefly considered. This all constitutes an apologia of the author9s own failures in this pressingly important field.
More Books about Buildings and Food

George Eliot lamented the decoration of her and George Henry Lewes's house, for which Owen Jones, the man behind the color scheme for the Crystal Palace, designed wallpaper and chose draperies. At the beginning of his chapter on Middlemarch in Novels Behind Glass, a detailed historicist study of Thackeray, Gaskell, Dickens, Eliot and the Great Exhibition, Andrew Miller quotes Eliot's lament: "Such fringing [sic] away of precious life in thinking of carpets and tables is an affliction to me and seems like a nightmare from which I shall find it bliss to awake into my old world of care for things quite apart from upholstery" (189). In the Afterword, Miller quotes the deathbed words of Oscar Wilde, whose earnestness about his own wallpapered predicament are quite in contrast with Eliot: "My wallpaper and I are fighting a duel to the death.... One or the other of us has to go" (221). In a book preoccupied with ideologies of material culture, both quotations go curiously under-discussed. And in a book which makes much of Marxist theorists of all stripes, from Adorno to Zizek, the quotation from The Eighteenth Brumaire about bad dreams and his tory is surely too good to miss, as Miller does. For Eliot, her Hegelianism betrayed so off handedly in her remark about returning to an "old," unalienated "world" where human subjectivity is not remorselessly bound up with the commodity form, the wallpaper of capi talism weighs like a nightmare on the brains of the interior decorators of classic realism. Eliot and Wilde encapsulate the two positions on the commodity adopted by critics of capitalism and summarized by Slavoj Zizek in a book often cited by Miller, The Sublime Object of Ideology. For the commodity is either the prison-house of humanity, from which humanity longs to escape into an unalienated state; or it is one of the very structural foundations of modern human subjectivity, whose overthrow can only be imagined as a kind of Lacanian passage ? l'acte. It is left unclear which remedy Miller subscribes to, allopathic or homeopathic. Novels Behind Glass belongs to a form of Marxist-inspired literary and cultural analysis influenced by psychoanalytic theory and Foucault. Miller concludes that "I considered various attempts at resisting the fetishistic gaze" set up by commodity culture in the Victorian period (219). The language of resistance, starting off paranoid and totalizing in Foucault and becoming increasingly debased in its long march towards Routledgized cultural studies, is surely an inadequate register of the kinds of struggle and transformation, and even complicity, envisaged in Marxist criticism. It has the
Recent advances in solid-state single photon detectors

This paper reviews recent advances in the detection of single photons at visible and near-infrared wavelengths, focusing on detectors based on superconducting and semiconducting technologies.
The Surgical Spectrum of Pulmonary Neuroendocrine Neoplasms

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to review our experience with the spectrum of neuroendocrine neoplasms of the lung with emphasis on the histopathologic classification and surgical therapy of each class of neoplasm. Design: This retrospective review covers the entire spectrum of neuroendocrine neoplasms of the lung over an 11-year period (January 1985 to December 1995) in a university hospital setting. Only patients who underwent surgical resection were included in this review. Patients: During this period, a total of 77 patients underwent lung resection for the following neuroendocrine neoplasms: typical carcinoid (TC), 50 patients; atypical carcinoid (AC), 5 patients; large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma (LCNEC), 9 patients; mixed large-small cell neuroendocrine carcinoma (LSNEC), 4 patients; or small cell neuroendocrine carcinoma (SCC), 9 patients. There were 37 men (48.1%) and 40 women (51.9%) among the patients, with a mean age of 57.9 years (range, 14 to 87 years). Interventions: Primary surgical resection consisted of the following procedures: 52 lobectomies (67.5%); 10 pneumonectomies (13%); 13 limited resections (16.9%); 1 left main bronchus sleeve resection; and 1 carinal resection. Six patients had the following concomitant procedures: pericardiectomy, 2 patients; mediastinoscopy, 1 patient; chest wall resection, 1 patient; stapling blebs, 1 patient; and transdiaphragmatic liver biopsy, 1 patient. Four patients underwent bilobectomies, and two patients underwent multiple wedge resections. Results: The hospital mortality rate was 2.6% (2 of 77 patients), and both patients died of pulmonary failure. Follow-up was obtained in 62 of 77 patients (80.9%) for an average of 38.1 months (range, 2 to 132 months). There were a total of 13 deaths, and 8 were disease-related (LCNEC, 4 deaths; SCC, 2 deaths; LSNEC, 1 death; and AC tumor, 1 death. The mean disease-free intervals for patients with these neoplasms were the following: TC tumor, 41.3 months; AC tumor, 20 months; LCNEC, 20.4 months; LSNEC, 25 months; and SCC, 48 months. The overall 3-year survival rate was 45.2% (28 of 62 patients). Conclusion: This report will emphasize the classification, surgical management, and treatment considerations of pulmonary neuroendocrine neoplasms. Despite the poor overall prognosis in high-grade neuroendocrine tumors of the lung, surgery remains a viable adjunct in the early stages of this disease. (CHEST 2001; 119:14 ‐18)
Multiresolution computational chemistry

Multiresolution techniques in multiwavelet bases, made practical in three and higher dimensions by separated representations, have enabled significant advances in the accuracy and manner of computation of molecular electronic structure. The mathematical and numerical techniques are described in the article by Fann. This paper summarizes the major accomplishments in computational chemistry which represent the first substantial application of most of these new ideas in three and higher dimensions. These include basis set limit computation with linear scaling for Hartree-Fock and Density Functional Theory with a wide variety of functionals including hybrid and asymptotically corrected forms. Current capabilities include energies, analytic derivatives, and excitation energies from linear response theory. Direct solution in 6-D of the two-particle wave equation has also been demonstrated. These methods are written using MADNESS which provides a high level of composition using functions and operators with guarantees of speed and precision.
700V Lateral DMOS with New Source Fingertip Design

For decades of years, the most advanced commercial LDMOS was made by double RESURF technique using p-type Held shaping layer until dual current path LDMOS which has triple RESURF structure. The specific on resistance of LDMOS was reduced to about 60% comparing to conventional LDMOS by using buried p-type field shaping layer which make it possible to get triple RESURF structure for LDMOS. The crucial point to get low specific on resistance of LDMOS is also source fingertip design because large source radius to avoid electric field concentration causes poor specific on-resistance characteristics. This paper presents high voltage LDMOS with two types of RESURF structure which has different charge balances to get lower specific on-resistance and high sustaining voltage at the same time.