cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Some considerations relating to the design of autopilots for legged vehicles

INTRODUCTION THE EVIDENT advantages enjoyed by terrestial animals over wheeled vehicles when traversing difficult terrain has frequently been noted by the designers of military vehicles and others, and has lead to speculation regarding the possibility of constructing legged machines for off-road locomotion [1-3]. Interest in such machines has recently been heightened by the construction and testing of several experimental vehicles [4-6]. One of the principal difficulties which have retarded the development of practical "walking machines" is the lack of an entirely satisfactory solution to the limb coordination control problem. It appears that most serious attempts to solve this problem have been based upon the use of mechanical linkages '[7, 8] and while some such systems have shown a surprising degree of adaptability to varying terrain conditions [6], the relative motions of the various limb segments of this type of machine are rigidly determined by the linkage mechanism. This obviously prevents the machine from achieving the degree of mobility possessed by animals in which every joint of every limb is independently powered and controlled. One alternative to linkage coordination of limb segment motions is to provide a means for individual control of powered leg joints by a human operator. This approach bypasses the coordination control problem by making use of the extraordinary capabilities of human beings to adapt to the dynamics of machines. Historically, this type of control has almost always been used for the solution of very complicated control tasks. Two pertinent examples are the control of motor vehicles on highways, and the control of aircraft during take-off and landing. The feasibility of manual control for legged locomotion systems is currently being investigated by General Electric Corporation by means of an experimental study involving a large artificial quadruped [4, 9]. The legs of this machine each possess three rotational degrees of freedom so a total of twelve independent joint motions must be coordinated, by the operator to achieve forward motion. A third approach to ~he solution of the limb coordination control problem is suggested by an examination of the control techniques employed in modern aircraft. In such systems, not only is the strength of the pilot amplified by the use of electric and hydraulic actuators, but the control tasks he faces are also made easier by the use of an electronic autopilot and navigation system capable of flying the aircraft towards a desired location with little or no human intervention. It appears that it is possible to similarly aid the the operator of a legged locomotion
The scope of vicarious liability and referralliability in the orthodontic setting: Am I my brother's keeper?

Abstract The legal theory of holding an orthodontist liable to a patient who is injuredthrough the negligent act of another is described. The transfer of liability from an employee to the employer under the legal doctrine of respondeat superior is presented. The transfer of liability for referrals, having its basis in the legal doctrine of vicarious liability is likewise discussed. Liability in partnership practice, a major risk in the transfer of liability, is also described in the section. Finally, various dental organizational entities, such as the Professional Corporation or Association and the Limited Liability Company, are discussed with regard to their effectiveness in avoiding the transfer of liability.
Making the Case for School-based Systemic Reform in Science Education

Over the last decade, stakeholders in science education have been grappling with the challenge of bringing inservice teachers up to speed with changes called for in the National Science Education Standards (NSES), including the use of inquiry as the ‘‘central strategy for teaching science’’ (National Research Council 1996). Individual teacher professional development programs served as a good way for teachers who chose to attend to learn how to use inquiry and create a more studentcentered learning environment (Czerniak et al. 2005; Kahle et al. 2000; Keys and Bryan 2000; Wright and Wright 2000). However, these experiences often did not result in school-level change due to the short duration of most programs, and the fact that only a few teachers (if any) per school participated (Shymansky et al. 2004). No Child Left Behind (NCLB) shortly followed NSES and worked to stifle the teaching of science in order to provide further instructional time for reading and mathematics. The message to teachers was clear—science was no longer a high instructional priority. For the seven-year period that followed, professional development programs at the district and school level focused on areas other than science and the majority of opportunities for teachers were outside of their local districts, though funding for those opportunities was often directed toward reading and mathematics. In 2007, NCLB-mandated assessment of science was implemented and focus was shifted back to science. Instructional time for science was inserted back into the schedule for teachers—many of whom had not been provided the opportunity to learn about and understand NSES-based science teaching. The result was that many teachers and schools were ‘‘left behind’’ in regards to understanding effective science instruction. Many students in classrooms across the U.S. today are not being given the opportunity to learn and do science, as Banilower et al. (2006) found only 14% of classrooms were high-quality in their national study. There is evidence in
Functional specificity in the modulation of novelty exposure effects by reliability of maternal care.

Abstract Using the within-litter neonatal novelty exposure procedure, we manipulated newborn pups’ environmental novelty independently from natural variations in maternal care. To better translate animal models to human development studies, we introduce a measure for maternal care reliability. We examined how this reliability modulates novelty-exposure-induced effects on offspring cognitive, social, and emotional development and show that maternal care reliability acts in a function-specific manner. We discuss our results within the framework of a maternal reliability-based modulation model.
Noise in sliced self-phase modulation broadened spectrum

Summary form only given.Recently there has been a great interest in applications where a slice of a broad optical spectrum generated by nonlinear effects in a fiber is filtered out by selecting a narrow part of the spectrum with an optical filter. When operating in anomalous dispersion regime in the fiber, the filtered pulses become noisy if the input pulses are not extremely stable in amplitude and the signal to noise ratio (SNR) is very high. This is due to unstable excitation of higher order solitons either due to amplitude fluctuations in the input pulse itself or due to beating between the pulse and optical noise, e.g., from an erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA). This phenomenon has been shown to become a severe limitation in the generation of super continuum where the input peak power has to be extremely high compared to the generation of a fundamental soliton. In this communication we show that this effect also has severe noise implications even at the much lower input power required for moderate SPM broadening of the spectrum. Here, the growth of noise is characterized by measuring the SNR versus input power for a sliced SPM broadened spectrum. Random generation of higher order solitons, when pumping the fiber in the anomalous dispersion regime, may also impair other all optical fiber devices, like the nonlinear optical loop mirror and devices relying on four wave mixing.
Disability and the Dedicated Wheelchair Athlete Beyond the “Supercrip” Critique

The “supercrip” athlete is often derided as a figure that is antithetical to the interests of people with disabilities. But few researchers have questioned the assumptions of this complaint or examined it empirically. In this article I problematize the supercrip critique and argue for a more nuanced view of dedicated disabled athletes as offering both a disempowering and an empowering experience for people with disabilities. I report on the results of in-depth interviews of ballplayers and other personnel associated with a premier collegiate wheelchair basketball program, documenting the unintended social fissures that developed between elite athletes and nonathletes within this disability community, and revealing tensions between exclusionary and inclusionary aspects of the sport and between separatist and integrationist strategies of using sport for progressive social change and personal empowerment. I conclude by considering the broader implications of the study for the role of sport in the disability ...
A microprocessor-based psychopathology laboratory: I. Why bother?

The greater than usual need for stimulus control, closed-loop design to control for organic state variables, and the acquisition of complex data on thought disorders makes on-line microprocessors especially important in psychopathology research.
Evolution of Gases from High-Fusing Gold Alloys

SYNOPSIS IN INTERLINGUAEVOLUTION DE GASES AB ALLIGATOS DE AURO A ALTE FusioN.-Con le objectivo de determinar le comparative quantitates de gas evolvite ab alligatos de auro empleate in le technica de porcellana fusionate a auro, un systema a vacuo esseva concipite pro mesurar le effecto de varie factores manipulative super le evolution de gas durante le coction e pro determinar le fonte de gases evolvite.Le magnitude comparative del quantitate de gas evolvite dependeva del tractamento del fundituras ante le contraplacation. Le evolution de gas esseva maximal post contamination digital, durante que nulle gas esseva detegite post un calefaction del specimens secundo le proponimentos del fabricantes. Ni magazinage ni depurgation con HF contribueva al evolution de gas. Apparentemente, le gas evolvite es un gas de superficie.
A new self-consistent approach to relativistic nuclear matter calculations

Abstract In the Dirac-Brueckner-Hartree-Fock approach to nuclear matter, a self-consistent method is developed which employs the first law of thermodynamics to eliminate the non-uniqueness of the solution caused by the neglect of the couplings to antiparticles. A specific invariant structure of the effective interaction matrix is not required.
Integrating Security, Analytics and Application Management into the Mobile Development Lifecycle

The advent of mobile devices has revolutionized many aspects of the software lifecycle. Unlike Web applications, which delegate most of the business logic to the server and use the client side for the presentation logic, mobile apps are client intensive. Another crucial difference is that the client side of Web applications is typically written using a combination of platform-independent Web languages, whereas most mobile apps have native clients written in platform-specific languages.Though nativity hinders the portability of mobile apps across different platforms and even different devices inside the same platform, it enables smooth high-fidelity experience, high performance and compliance with the platform's UI style---requirements that can only be satisfied natively. The main cost, beyond the initial coding of a mobile app, is to maintain its different variants in the presence of updates. Indeed, mobile code is typically updated frequently, with bug fixes and new features integrated into each new version. In the enterprise setting, these new features often revolve around security, analytics and Mobile App Management (MAM).This paper presents Enceladus, an app-level instrumentation framework that addresses these high-maintenance costs by transparently enriching any mobile enterprise app with new analytics, security and MAM capabilities not otherwise present in the original app source code. With Enceladus, the mobile app lifecycle is significantly reduced because the instrumentation is visually configurable, and any change to the instrumentation policy can be pushed transparently without requiring a full app update.
Convective heat transfer in the entrance region of a rectangular duct with two indented sides

This study presents a numerical solution to convective heat transfer in laminar flow in the thermal entrance region of a rectangular duct with two indented sides. The flow is considered to be hydrodynamically fully developed and thermally developing laminar flow of incompressible, Newtonian fluids with constant thermal properties. The ducts are subjected to a constant wall temperature. An algebraic technique is used to discretize the solution domain and a boundary-fitted coordinate system is numerically developed. The governing equations in the boundary-fitted coordinates are solved by the control volume-based finite difference method. Distribution of the bulk temperature and the Nusselt number along the direction of flow is calculated and presented graphically. Also calculated is the thermal entrance length of the rectangular ducts with two indented sides. The parameters, such as the friction factor times the Reynolds number, and the Nusselt number for the fully developed flow and thermally developing flow are obtained.
Evolution of permanent estrus displays in hominids

Abstract Accounts of the reality of “concealed ovulation" (i.e., concealed estrus) in humans do not stand up to tests supplied by the facts of morphology and physiology when these are viewed in a fully Darwinian perspective of descent. The origin and transformation of morphology and physiology occur together with behaviors. The latter cannot be decoupled from the somatic attributes of organisms. Although there is natural selection of organisms, this success is largely the result of selection for survival strategies, the latter being directly causal to differential reproduction. Reproductive strategies are thus constrained by feeding and locomotion. Historical and functional attributes of the quadrupedal ape ancestor with a temporary, visually oriented, estrus display (TED) channelled the transformation of the sexual signal system of the newly bipedal protohominid. Mechanical constraints of bipedality ushered in this system based on the attractivity of the ancestral vulva-focused estrus swellings, but in a permanent form. Permanent estrus displays (PED) of hominids are a continuation from a chimp-like ancestry of swollen and naked perineal signals. PED, realized when bipedality evolved, occurred through a phyletic automimickry (of the antecedent condition in the lineage) of the swollen labia of estrus by the fatty buttocks and by the spreading of hairless skin. A zoologically unique sexually dimorphic deposition of fat altered the buttocks and female body contours emphasizing the rear, and thus making permanent the signal paraphernalia of the ancestral estrus state. Further spread of such skin onto thighs and torso, and the development of pendulous breasts, in automimicry of the swollen perineal region of the ancestry, and the hominid buttocks, are the results of continuous sexual selection based on a successful somatic and behavioral female survival and reproductive strategy. In this example of inseparable sexual and natural selection, the continuous attractivity of PED females resulted in both feeding advantages obtained through the males, and probable anti-infanticidal strategy against males. This further fueled sexual selection of males as a result of both intermale and female-male selection. Male competition within a complex reconciliatory hierarchy of the group would have increasingly selected for phenotypes with a behavioral ability to deal with tensions created by the PED. Male hair reduction is the hormonally-mediated epiphenomenon of successful female traits. We explore explanations of human attributes in the framework of a historical-narrative explanation of hominid origins.
INFLUENCE OF DIFFERENT BETA-BLOCKERS ON INAPPROPRIATE THERAPY IN THE MADIT-CRT TRIAL

The effect of different beta-blockers on inappropriate therapy in heart failure patients with devices has not been investigated previously. All patients in the MADIT-CRT study who received a device (N=1790) were identified and treatment or no treatment with different types of beta-blockers were
Radial artery grafting in women improves 15-year survival

Objectives Radial artery (RA) grafting has a clear survival advantage after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) in studies with predominantly male populations, but the impact on women's long-term survival is unclear. We sought to determine if the reported long-term survival benefit of RA versus saphenous vein (SV) grafting in the general CABG population is valid for women. Methods Between 1995 and 2010, 1339 female patients were alive 30 days after primary, isolated CABG with left internal thoracic artery (LITA) and additional RA or SV conduits as needed. Patients were evaluated based on RA use: 332 patients had RA and 1007 patients had SV. Of these, 283 RA patients were matched to SV counterparts using a nonparsimonious propensity model based on 45 patient variables. Results Kaplan-Meier estimated survivals for the matched RA women at 1, 5, 10, and 15 years were 99%, 93%, 80%, and 70% versus 97%, 87%, 72%, and 58% for the SV women (log rank, P = .018). For symptomatic patients, overall RA patency was 80%, which was not different from the LITA patency rate of 84% but was superior to the SV conduits patency rate of 56% ( P Conclusions In women undergoing CABG with LITA grafting, use of an RA graft improves survival compared with use of an SV graft.
Con: cardiac anesthesia and elitism: where does SIGMA end and ROA begin?

0 NE OF OUR faculty, who wishes to remain anonymous, invented an acronym, namely “SIGMA” to stand for “Society for Isolation and Glorification of Myocardia1 Anesthesiologists.” The other acronym used in this communication, namely ROA, stands for “regular old anesthesiologist.” With that as background, please consider the following scenario, which takes place at 3:00 AM. Mr Smith, who is 63 years old, has undergone a quadruple-vessel CABG during yesterday’s surgical schedule, and is bleeding. The decision has been made to re-operate. His blood pressure briefly dipped to 87/67 mmHg and a tentative diagnosis of “tamponade” is being entertained. The ROA on cal1 in the hospita1 does not have SIGMA credentials. There is a SIGMA member on cal1 at home. From an anesthesia standpoint, what is actually involved with this re-operation for bleeding? Differential diagnosis of hypotension, airway management, fluid, blood and electrolyte replacement, arrhythmia control, blood gas management, obliteration of awareness, analgesia, and muscle relaxation are some of the most likely elements involved. ROAs work quite effectively in al1 these arenas daily. The cardiac anesthesiologist who believes that he or she somehow has a priori extra expertise in these areas is naive (and wrong). A true blue SIGMA member presented with the above argument wil1 solemnly intone, “Ah, but what if this patient needs to go back on cardiopulmonary bypass?” Can an ROA provide competent and safe care for such a case, which suddenly needs CPB? During cannulation, severe bleeding andior hypotension can occur. Hemodynamic and fluid management are again required. During CPB, the argument goes that a SIGMA member is needed because he or she wil1 know the proper arterial pressures at each stage of the procedure. Actually, that knowledge does not yet exist. Can the ROA remember to give heparin‘? Usually the perfusionist (1) calculates the dose; (2) fills the syringe; and (3) measures activated coagulation time (ACT) and wil1 keep track of when the heparin was given, as wel1 as the effects of the heparin on the ACT. What about the all-important period during emergence from CPB? How many cardiac anesthesiologists actually make independent decisions to start specific inotropes without at least consulting with the surgeon during this crucial period? Not many. How many cardiac anesthesiologists actually merely follow pharmacologic orders from the surgeon during this critical period? If an anesthesiologist claims to be a “cardiac anesthesiologist” but simply awaits surgical orders for dopamine, isoproterenol, epinephrine,
The Predictors of Parental Use of Corporal Punishment

Corporal punishment has been the focus of considerable study over the past decade. Some recent research suggesting that the use of corporal punishment may have significant long-term negative effects on children has prompted increasing exploration and interest in the issue. We used tobit regression analysis and data from the 2000 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth to examine both the prevalence and the chronicity of spanking in a nation- ally representative sample of parents. Mother's characteristics (e.g., age, education) and neighborhood context did not show a relationship with parental use of corporal punishment. Among parents who used corporal punishment, being Protestant had a relatively large relationship with its use. Although children's externalizing behaviors had some association with parent's propensity to spank, findings suggest that use of corporal punishment may be better under- stood as part of a constellation of behaviors relating to a parenting style. Further, findings indicate that it is easier to predict the incidence of corporal punishment than to predict its frequency of use.
Multiferroic oxide composites: synthesis, characterisation and applications

AbstractThe nature of mechanical strain mediated electromagnetic coupling in multiferroic composites has been studied extensively in recent years. This review is on composites with ferromagnetic or ferrimagnetic oxides and ferroelectrics. Systems studied so far include samples with spinel ferrites, hexagonal ferrites or lanthanum manganites for the ferromagnetic phase and barium titanate, lead zirconate titanate (PZT), lead magnesium niobate–lead titanate (PMN-PT) or lead zinc niobate–lead titanate (PZN-PT) for the ferroelectric phase. Bilayer and multilayer heterostructures, bulk composites, core shell nanoparticles and core shell nanotubes and nanowires were investigated for their response to magnetic fields, termed direct magnetoelectric effect (DME). Several systems show a giant low frequency DME and resonance enhancement at bending and electromechanical resonance. The response of the composites to an electric field, called converse ME effect, is found to be strong in several ferrite–ferroelectric com...
GENI Deployment and Research at US Army Research Laboratory

Global Environment for Network Innovation (GENI) is a comprehensive test bed technology to promote rapid network research and application development. It provides sliceable experimental spaces for conducting isolated computational experiment and supports Open Flow and other Software Defined Network (SDN) features for conducting comprehensive network research. GENI deployment at US Army Research Laboratory (ARL) uses its own Aggregate Manager (AM) and slice authority. In future, ARL GENI will provide clearinghouse services via Department of Defense (DOD) GENI Authority (DGA) portal to other DOD GENI nodes.
Oil futures and spot markets

Analyse de la relation entre le prix du petrole sur les marches a terme et son prix-spot afin de determiner si le premier peut donner une indication correcte de l'evolution du second.
TU‐G‐103‐07: Quantifying the Dose Distribution of OBI CBCT Using Monte Carlo Simulations with a Measurement‐Based Source Model

Purpose: To test the feasibility of using a measurement‐based source model in Monte Carlo simulations to calculate in‐phantom 3D dose distributions, with the application to kV‐CBCT dose quantification on a Varian OBI platform. Methods: A 3‐part nested CTDI phantom was used in this investigation. It contains 7 tracks in the x‐y plane that can be probed. The central reference point of the phantom was aligned at machine isocenter, and using standard head and pelvis CBCT protocols, point dose measurements were made at various 3D locations with a 0.6cc thimble ionization chamber by moving the phantom along the z‐direction and changing the ionization chamber position among the tracks under repetitive scans. We have generated a measurement‐based source model for the OBI system and incorporated it with the Monte Carlo software MCNPX to model each CBCT protocol under examination. The in‐phantom CBCT dose (mGy per particle) was simulated at all 3D measurement locations and converted to absolute dose (mGy) by normalizing with the ratio between measured and Monte Carlo simulated dose at the reference center. The calculated results were compared with the physical measurement and their discrepancies were assessed quantitatively. Results: Agreement was observed between Monte Carlo simulation results and in‐phantom measurements for both the OBI CBCT head and pelvis protocols. For the head protocol, the average agreement was 3.40% with a maximum and minimum disagreement of 5.72% and 1.61%, respectively. For the pelvis protocol, the average agreement was 3.18% with a maximum and minimum disagreement of 4.29% and 1.87%, respectively. Conclusion: We have demonstrated the accuracy of a measurement‐based OBI source model to reproduce an array of measured point doses in phantom when using the CBCT mode of operation. These results serve as the basis for using this source model to investigate OBI dosimetry with anthropomorphic phantoms and patient specific models. (a) Dr. McNitt‐Gray: Institutional research agreement, Siemens AG;Recipient research support Siemens AG; Consultant, Flaherty Sensabaugh Bonasso PLLC; Consultant, Fulbright and Jaworski, LLC; (b) Dr. Dan Ruan: Recipient research support AACR; Recipient research support TRDRP; (c) K McMillan: Research partially supported by a grant from Siemens AG; Research partially supported by a grant from AACR; Research partially supported by a grant from TRDRP
Opioid receptor-coupled G-proteins in rat locus coeruleus membranes: decrease in activity after chronic morphine treatment.

Abstract The nucleus locus coeruleus is involved in the expression of opiate physical dependence and withdrawal, and has been characterized extensively with regard to chronic morphine-induced alterations in biochemical and electrophysiological responses. In the present study, the effects of chronic morphine treatment on opioid receptor-coupled G-protein activity was investigated in membranes from rat locus coeruleus. Opioid agonists stimulated low Km GTPase activity with pharmacology consistent with mu receptors. Chronic morphine treatment resulted in decreases in both basal and opioid-stimulated low Km GTPase activity, with no change in the percent stimulation by agonist. The decrease in low Km GTPase activity appeared to be due to a decrease in the Vmax of the enzyme, with no change in the Km for GTP hydrolysis. These results were confirmed by assays of basal and opioid receptor-stimulated [35S]GTPγS binding in the presence of excess GDP. Thus, chronic morphine treatment apparently decreased inhibitory G-protein activity in the locus coeruleus without producing any detectable desensitization. These results suggest a potential adaptation at the receptor/transducer level which may contribute to other biochemical changes produced in the locus coeruleus by chronic morphine treatment.
Propagators in pseudoparticle fields

Abstract The propagation functions for massless spinor and vector particles moving in a self-dual but otherwise arbitrary non-Abelian gauge field are explicitly constructed in terms of the corresponding massless scalar propagators. Simple closed expressions are presented for the isospin 1 2 and 1 scalar propagators in the self-dual field of a single pseudoparticle.
The Markets for Real Estate Assets and Space: A Conceptual Framework

In this study, we present a simple analytic framework that divides the real estate market into two markets: the market for real estate space and the market for real estate assets. After describing the size and character of flows and stocks in the U.S. real estate market, we use our framework to demonstrate the important connections between the space and asset markets. We illustrate how these real estate markets are affected by the nation's macroeconomy and financial markets, tracing out the impacts resulting from various exogenous shocks on rents, asset prices, construction and the stock of real estate.
Are there benefits in seeing double?: a study of collaborative information visualization

We conducted an empirical study to better understand colla-borative information visualization. We found that a system that offered fewer options for visualizations yielded more correct responses faster. Groups were more accurate but slower in solving problems than individuals. We identified different stages in visual discovery and found that collaboration benefits are from validating results and not from planning and system use. Tools to help translate and confirm the visualization would be of great benefit.
Scaling laws of sum rate using time-sharing, DPC, and beamforming for MIMO broadcast channels

This paper derives scaling laws of the sum rate throughput for MIMO Gaussian broadcast channels using time-sharing to the strongest user, dirty paper coding (DPC), and beamforming when the number of users (receivers) n is large. Assuming a fixed total average transmit power, we show that for a system with M transmit antennas and users equipped with N antennas, the sum rate scales like M log log nTV for DPC and beamforming when M is fixed and for any N (either growing to infinity or not). On the other hand, when both M and TV are fixed, the sum rate of time-sharing to the strongest user scales like min(M,N) log log n. It is also shown that if M grows as logn, the sum rate of DPC and beamforming will grow linearly in M, but with different constant multiplicative factors. In this region, the sum rate capacity of time-sharing scales like N log log n.
Evidence that the synchronized production of new basal bodies is not associated with DNA synthesis in Stentor coeruleus.

SUMMARY Stentors were induced to produce synchronously thousands of new ciliated oral membranellar band basal bodies in less than 3 h. DNA synthesis does not accompany this process, as determined by [ 3 H]thymidine incorporation into isolated bands and by sensitivity to DNA synthesis inhibitors (mitomycin C, ethidium bromide, cytosine arabinoside and hydroxyurea). Yet DNA could be detected in the cortex and the band at basal body sites by autoradiography. Since [ 3 H]thymidine incorporation into membranellar band was eliminated in concentrations of ethidium bromide that had no effect on basal body formation, the previous reports of ciliate kinetosomal (basal body) DNA are interpreted as due to mitochondrial contamination. Specific cortical patterns of DNA that could have been easily misinterpreted as basal body-related were especially apparent in autoradiographs using [ 3 H]actinomycin D as a 'stain'. In no experiment involving induced basal body regeneration could evidence be found for a correlation between new basal body production and DNA synthesis; RNA and protein synthesis correlated with basal body and cilia regeneration were, however, easily detected by the same techniques. We concluded that there is no evidence that basal body DNA synthesis is required for new basal body production.
Juxtacrine activation of EGFR regulates claudin expression and increases transepithelial resistance

Heparin-binding (HB)-EGF, a ligand for EGF receptors, is synthesized as a membrane-anchored precursor that is potentially capable of juxtacrine activation of EGF receptors. However, the physiologic...
A novel approach for multidimensional interpolation

We have developed an approach for effectively reducing the interpolation dimensions and thus the computational burden in a multidimensional interpolation (MDI) problem. More important, our approach can be used for interpolation task where other interpolation techniques may not be applicable. We illustrate this approach by using MDI problems that arise in medical imaging.
Towards index-based similarity search for protein structure databases

We propose two methods for finding similarities in protein structure databases. Our techniques extract feature vectors on triplets of SSEs (secondary structure elements) of proteins. These feature vectors are then indexed using a multidimensional index structure. Our first technique considers the problem of finding proteins similar to a given query protein in a protein dataset. This technique quickly finds promising proteins using the index structure. These proteins are then aligned to the query protein using a popular pairwise alignment tool such as VAST. We also develop a novel statistical model to estimate the goodness of a match using the SSEs. Our second technique considers the problem of joining two protein datasets to find an all-to-all similarity. Experimental results show that our techniques improve the pruning time of VAST3 to 3.5 times while keeping the sensitivity similar.
Negative Allosteric Modulation of the mGluR5 Receptor Reduces Repetitive Behaviors and Rescues Social Deficits in Mouse Models of Autism

Neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism and fragile X syndrome were long thought to be medically untreatable, on the assumption that brain dysfunctions were immutably hardwired before diagnosis. Recent revelations that many cases of autism are caused by mutations in genes that control the ongoing formation and maturation of synapses have challenged this dogma. Antagonists of metabotropic glutamate receptor subtype 5 (mGluR5), which modulate excitatory neurotransmission, are in clinical trials for fragile X syndrome, a major genetic cause of intellectual disabilities. About 30% of patients with fragile X syndrome meet the diagnostic criteria for autism. Reasoning by analogy, we considered the mGluR5 receptor as a potential target for intervention in autism. We used BTBR T+tf/J (BTBR) mice, an established model with robust behavioral phenotypes relevant to the three diagnostic behavioral symptoms of autism—unusual social interactions, impaired communication, and repetitive behaviors—to probe the efficacy of a selective negative allosteric modulator of the mGluR5 receptor, GRN-529. GRN-529 reduced repetitive behaviors in three cohorts of BTBR mice at doses that did not induce sedation in control assays of open field locomotion. In addition, the same nonsedating doses reduced the spontaneous stereotyped jumping that characterizes a second inbred strain of mice, C58/J. Further, GRN-529 partially reversed the striking lack of sociability in BTBR mice on some parameters of social approach and reciprocal social interactions. These findings raise the possibility that a single targeted pharmacological intervention may alleviate multiple diagnostic behavioral symptoms of autism.
A New Class of Filters for Image Interpolation and Resizing

We propose a new set of kernels to simplify the design of filters for image interpolation and resizing. Their properties are defined according to two parameters, specifying the width of the transition band and the height of the first sidelobe. By varying these parameters we can get very good approximations of many commonly-used interpolation kernels. Furthermore, because the Fourier transforms of these kernels have very fast decay, they can also be used for downsampling.
Serum leptin concentrations and body adipose measures in older black and white adults

BACKGROUND Among US adults, serum leptin concentrations are higher in women than in men and are higher in blacks than in whites independent of anthropometric measures of body fatness. OBJECTIVE Using radiographic measures of body fat, we determined the best correlates of leptin and whether adiposity can explain sex and race differences in leptin concentrations in older adults. DESIGN This was a cross-sectional analysis of fasting serum leptin concentrations and body fat measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), abdominal computed tomography, and standard anthropometry in 3026 well-functioning 70-79-y-old participants (42% black, 51% women) of the Health, Aging, and Body Composition Study. RESULTS Geometric mean (+/-SE) leptin concentrations (ng/mL) were higher in the women than in the men (16.5 +/- 0.3 and 5.7 +/- 0.1, respectively) and in the black women than in the white women (20.2 +/- 0.6 and 13.9 +/- 0.4, respectively), but did not differ significantly between the white and black men (5.8 +/- 0.2 and 5.5 +/- 0.2, respectively). Percentage fat estimated from DXA showed the highest correlation with leptin (R(2) = 0.56 for both sexes). Addition of abdominal visceral fat minimally increased the correlation. In the multivariate analysis, the association with sex was eliminated after adjustment for percentage fat and visceral fat in both whites (P = 0.051) and blacks (P = 0.34). Among women, higher leptin concentrations in blacks remained after adjustment for percentage fat and visceral fat (mean race difference = 4.95 ng/mL; P < 0.001). Among men, an association with black race emerged after adjustment for these factors (mean race difference = 1.42 ng/mL; P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS Among older adults, higher serum leptin concentrations in women are explained by a greater percentage of body fat. Higher leptin concentrations in blacks are not explained by percentage of body fat.
Graduate Medical Education: A Vital Renewal for Internal Medicine

Excerpt In this issue, the Federated Council for Internal Medicine (FCIM) states its position on methods to enhance excellence in internal medicine through graduate training programs and the method...
A Two-Dimensional Load-Extension Tester for Woven Fabrics

A two-dimensional load-extension tester for woven fabrics has been constructed. The ap paratus imposes simultaneous extensions on a sample in two mutually perpendicular directions. A strain-sensing element measures the internal strain developed in the homogeneously strained region as a function of the dynamically varying load. Preliminary results indicate important dif ferences in behavior of fabrics under one-dimensional tests and under two-dimensional tests. The latter are believed to simulate better the conditions that a fabric sustains in actual use.
The Perverse Consequences of Electoral Reform in the United States

A number of electoral reforms have been enacted in the United States in the past three decades that are designed to increase turnout by easing restrictions on the casting of ballots. Both proponents and opponents of electoral reforms agree that these reforms should increase the demographic representativeness of the electorate by reducing the direct costs of voting, thereby increasing turnout among less-privileged groups who, presumably, are most sensitive to the costs of coming to the polls. In fact, these reforms have been greatly contested because both major political parties believe that increasing turnout among less-privileged groups will benefit Democratic politicians. I review evidence from numerous studies of electoral reform to demonstrate that reforms designed to make it easier for registered voters to cast their ballots actually increase, rather than reduce, socioeconomic biases in the composition of the voting public. I conclude with a recommendation that we shift the focus of electoral reform from an emphasis on institutional changes to a concentration on political engagement.
Collaboration Improves the Connectivity of Wireless Networks

In the standard approach to studying connectivity, a physical layer is assumed that allows direct transmission between neighbors within some fixed distance. The graph resulting from connecting all such pairs of neighbors reveals clusters of nodes within which communication is possible. However, future wireless networks will provide a physical layer where nodes that are connected can collaboratively search for more connections via simultaneous RF transmission and reception, thus adding connections that are not possible in the traditional non-collaborative model. The purpose of this paper is to introduce this collaborative network model and to characterize its asymptotic connectivity properties for one characterization (noncoherent power summing) of the physical layer collaboration. In the case of sparse ad hoc networks, simulations show that an infinite cluster will emerge in the infinite two-dimensional plane at a node density roughly 20% of that required in non-collaborative ad hoc networks. In the case of dense ad hoc networks, the probability for the event that the network is connected goes to one asymptotically if the transmission area of each node is [4pi(4 log N)alpha/alpha+2(log log N+log 2)2/alpha+2]/N no less than , where N is the number of nodes in the network of unit area and a is the pathless exponent. Hence, significant gains in the asymptotic connectivity properties of the ad hoc network are obtained through collaboration.
Knowledge-based classification of SAR images

Classification of SAR images remains a challenge. One of the best efforts to date [Van Zyl and Burnette, 1992] only classifies three categories: ocean, dense city, and dense vegetation while training and testing the classifier on the same image. Using JPL AirSAR images a technique has been developed to classify each pixel as either of 4 classes: city, flat (water, pavement), short vegetation, or tall vegetation. The technique uses the backscattered powers in the co- and cross-polarized channels at L- and C-bands as well as the phase difference between the co-polarized channels. Several different measures of these basic parameters were formed to aid in the discrimination process. For instance, the texture [Ulaby, et al., 1986] of each pixel at each frequency and polarization was estimated using a 5/spl times/5 pixel mask; also, various ratios of parameters were formed. The decision strategy was developed from measures on a single image, then tested on another image of another area, with the accuracy of the classifier being checked against a land-use map. The method presented is intuitive and easily extended to finer classification categories given appropriate ground truth and image data. >
A Review of Bernard McGinn's The Harvest of Mysticism in Medieval Germany (1300–1500)

Mysticism is on the rise as a topic of cultural interestand as a part of the burgeoning interest in “spirituality” that has defined the cultural temperament of our times. This shift has had a predictable effect on the kinds of students enrolling in mainline Protestant seminaries, as well on as the interests they bring. All this would have surprised faculty members of an earlier generation. If mysticism was touched upon at all in the seminary curriculum of, say, 1980, it was a topic left to the historians; survey courses in systematic theology generally would not have ventured into such arcane territory. When referred to, sources categorized as mystical—for example, Hildegard of Bingen, Meister Eckhart, Julian of Norwich—were relegated to a shaky status at the fringes of theology; the “real” theological contributors included such great scholastics as Anselm, Aquinas, and Bonaventure. The textbooks used during this period illustrate the point: Williston Walker's standard History of the Christian Church, which appeared in its first edition in 1918 and was in steady use in many theological schools, was significantly revised by a team of historians from Union Theological Seminary only for the fourth edition of 1985. Until that time, the narrative focus moved rather quickly from an exploration of Christian origins and the early fathers to the great Protestant reformers with a relatively cursory overview of the Middle Ages and almost no reference to medieval mystics.
Zeal for Paul but Not According to Knowledge: Douglas Campbell’s War on ‘Justiﬁcation Theory’:

Douglas Campbell’s The Deliverance of God: An Apocalyptic Rereading of Justiﬁcation in Paul is a thoroughgoing critique of what Campbell calls ‘Justiﬁcation theory’ (JT, ‘a fundamentally contractual and hence also individualist and rationalist soteriology’), which he takes to be the underlying cause of a vast range of historic and current difﬁculties in reading Paul. Campbell aims to eliminate JT from Paul, both criticizing it in its own right and displacing it via a ‘rhetorical’ and ‘apocalyptic’ rereading of Rom. 1–4 and related texts. In this way, he hopes to lead Pauline scholarship not only ‘beyond the “Lutheran” reading of Paul’ but ‘beyond the protests of “the new perspective” as well’, declaring his book to be ‘an important moment in the advance to ecclesial and scholarly triumph of the participatory and apocalyptic gospel’. This review essay follows closely Campbell’s account of JT and its difﬁculties, offers a methodological and substantive critique of his ‘theoretical description’ of JT and its...
Performance characteristics of a high resolution oncologic transformable PET in brain/breast and whole-body modes

A high resolution transformable PET camera for human research has been developed. It can be transformed from whole-body mode (83 cm detector ring diameter, 13 cm axial FOV) to brain/breast mode (54 cm diameter, 21 cm axial FOV). This flexibility allows more optimal imaging for more dedicated human research studies, compared to commercial systems that are designed primarily for whole-body cancer imaging. The camera has 12 rectangular detector modules with gaps between modules which are small and remain constant for every configuration. Each module has a large detection area of 13 times21 cm2 and 3,168 BGO detector crystals of 2.68 times 2.68 times 18 mm3 with built-in front-end electronics. The system has 38,016 BGO detectors and 924 PMT in total. The low-cost high-resolution PMT-quadrant-sharing (PQS) detector design was used for the detection system. A fast LED cross-reference calibration method is used to maintain the PMT gain balance. To improve the spatial sampling, the gantry rotates 30" with a fine step of 1"along with the high-speed electronics and detector modules. The whole system (detectors, electronics, mechanics, and software) was designed and fabricated inhouse. The performance characteristics are measured following the NEMA NU 2-2001 standard. 3D acquisitions were collected without interplane septa in the system. The sensitivity is 4.2% for whole-body mode and 9.2% for brain/breast mode with a Na-22 point source placed at FOV center. For brain/breast mode, the transaxial image resolutions at 0, 10 cm are 2.7 and 4.0 mm; while for whole-body mode, the resolutions are 3.3 and 3.9 mm. The slice thickness resolution is 2.6 to 3.3 mm in brain mode. DOI reduction technique is applied into the sinogram with the model- based Point Spread Function (PSF) obtained by Monte Carlo simulations to achieve high-definition (HD), high uniform PET images. The improved image resolutions are 2.9, 3.3 mm in whole-body mode at the location of 0, 10 cm offset. A coincidence window of 13 ns collects 93% of the trues. The scatter fraction is 48% in brain mode. The maximum noise- equivalent count rate (NECR) is 34 Kcps at 4.6 KBq/cc for the brain mode and 20 Kcps at 5.6 KBq/cc for whole-body mode with the 70-cm NEMA NECR phantom. The convertible lead shield is being redesigned for higher NECR in whole-body mode.