cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
OCR enhancement through neighbor embedding and fast approximate nearest neighbors

Generic optical character recognition (OCR) engines often perform very poorly in transcribing scanned low resolution (LR) text documents. To improve OCR performance, we apply the Neighbor Embedding (NE) single-image super-resolution (SISR) technique to LR scanned text documents to obtain high resolution (HR) versions, which we subsequently process with OCR. For comparison, we repeat this procedure using bicubic interpolation (BI). We demonstrate that mean-square errors (MSE) in NE HR estimates do not increase substantially when NE is trained in one Latin font style and tested in another, provided both styles belong to the same font category (serif or sans serif). This is very important in practice, since for each font size, the number of training sets required for each category may be reduced from dozens to just one. We also incorporate randomized k -d trees into our NE implementation to perform approximate nearest neighbor search, and obtain a 1000x speed up of our original NE implementation, with negligible MSE degradation. This acceleration also made it practical to combine all of our size-specific NE Latin models into a single Universal Latin Model (ULM). The ULM eliminates the need to determine the unknown font category and size of an input LR text document and match it to an appropriate model, a very challenging task, since the dpi (pixels per inch) of the input LR image is generally unknown. Our experiments show that OCR character error rates (CER) were over 90% when we applied the Tesseract OCR engine to LR text documents (scanned at 75 dpi and 100 dpi) in the 6-10 pt range. By contrast, using k -d trees and the ULM, CER after NE preprocessing averaged less than 7% at 3x (100 dpi LR scanning) and 4x (75 dpi LR scanning) magnification, over an order of magnitude improvement. Moreover, CER after NE preprocessing was more that 6 times lower on average than after BI preprocessing.
Staff stress in AIDS prevention and service organizations: implications for health education practice

The purpose of this study was to identify the frequency of staff stressors and their association with programmatic factors in 51 AIDS prevention and service projects funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The methodology included both quantitative (i.e. closed-ended survey questions) and qualitative (i.e. in-depth, open-ended interviews) data to identify the important sources of staff stress. The findings suggest that staff working in AIDS prevention and service projects perceive significant levels of stress regardless of project focus. The most frequently reported staff stresses were too much work, rapid organizational growth, burnout, and problems with staff retention and communication. Among the issues rarely reported as a source of staff stress were too little work, discomfort with the target population and personal health risk concerns. The programmatic factor most often associated with staff stress was obtaining additional funding. Health education interventions need to take a comprehensive approach that includes altering the psychosocial-environmental conditions that give rise to stressors and strengthening the individual and organizational factors that may modify the effects of stress on the AIDS workforce.
Autoimmune dysfunction and subsequent renal insufficiency in a collegiate female athlete: a case report.

Abstract Objective: To present the case of a female collegiate basketball player who was diagnosed with Wegener granulomatosis of the eyes and immunoglobulin A (IgA) nephropathy. Background: A 19-y...
On the Reproducibility of MPI Reduction Operations

Many scientific applications go through a thorough validation and verification ("VaV'") process to demonstrate that the computer simulation does, in fact, mirror what can be analyzed through physical experimentation. Given the complexity of and the time required for the VaV process, applications that have been validated and verified are typically conservative with respect to changes that might impact the reproducibility of their results. In the extreme case, some applications require bit wise reproducibility for their simulations. Thus, any change made to the application, the hardware, or the software on the system needs to preserve the bit wise reproducibility of the application. Such a constraint, however, can drastically affect the performance efficiency of the system in many ways. In this paper, we analyze the impact of such bit wise reproducibility on the performance efficiency of MPI reduction operations.
The effect of annealing on the mechanical anisotropy of cold rolled polyoxymethylene

The effect of cold rolling and subsequent annealing on the anisotropy of tensile properties has been studied by annealing 33 percent cold rolled polyoxymethylene at 70, 120 and 170°C and measuring the properties at 0, 45 and 90° from the rolling direction. The mechanical and thermal treatments exhibit a significant effect on the directional nature of the properties. The changes in mechanical properties have been accounted for in terms of the changes in morphology, fracture behavior and orientation as studied by a differential thermal analyzer, electron microscopy and wide-angle X-ray diffraction.
Guest-host-system polymer with high electro-optic coefficients

An electro-optic polymer with photolime gel and chlorophenol red dye is prepared using a newly developed mixed solvent of water and ethyline-glycol. This new solvent not only prevents the EO chromophore from re-crystallization, but also help the guest and host materials to mix well in the molecular level. As a result, high EO coefficient of 40 pm/v has been obtained with improved stability of EO effect. A new pulsed poling technique is developed, which increase the poling efficiency up to 35% compared with the traditional parallel-plate poling method.
Dynamic strain localization in elasto-(visco-)plastic solids, Part 1. General formulation and one-dimensional examples

Abstract Viscoplasticity is introduced as a procedure to regularize the elasto-plastic solid, especially for those situations in which the underlying inviscid material exhibits instabilities which preclude further analysis of initial-value problems. The procedure is general, and therefore has the advantage of allowing the regularization of any inviscid elastic-plastic material. Rate-dependency is shown to naturally introduce a length-scale into the dynamical initial-value problem. Furthermore, the width of the localized zones in which high strain gradients prevail and strain accumulations take place, is shown to be proportional to the characteristic length c η, which is the distance the elastic wave travels in the characteristic time η. Viscosity can thus be viewed either as a regularization parameter (computational point of view), or as a substructural/micromechanical parameter to be determined from observed shear-band widths (physical point of view). Finally, from a computational point of view, the proposed approach is shown to have striking advantages: (1) the wave speeds always remain real (even in the softening regime) and are set by the elastic moduli; (2) the elasto-(visco-)plastic constitutive equations are amenable to unconditionally stable integration; (3) the resulting well-posedness of the dynamical initial-value problem guarantees stable and convergent solutions with mesh refinements. The initial-value problems reported in this first part are essentially one-dimensional. They are used because they offer the simplest possible context to illustrate both the physical and computational significance of the proposed viscoplastic regularization procedure. The methods used in multi-dimensional analysis and examples will be reported in Part 2.
Imaging Negative Stroke: Diagnoses and Outcomes in Intravenous Tissue Plasminogen Activator–Treated Patients

Background Intravenous (IV) Alteplase (tissue plasminogen activator [t-PA]) improves outcome in patients with acute ischemic stroke. Of those with full recovery, some may not have had ischemia. We analyzed the frequency and post-treatment outcomes of stroke code patients with no imaging evidence of stroke to establish the incidence of neuroimaging negative cerebral ischemia (NNCI) and stroke mimics treated with t-PA. In addition, we compared these patients with the group of stroke patients with imaging evidence of acute stroke to determine whether there was a difference in adverse events and functional outcomes. Methods We included all adult stroke patients treated with IV t-PA within 3 hours of stroke onset from the University of California, San Diego, Specialized Programs of Translational Research in Acute Stroke database through January 2013. The imaging positive stroke (IPS) code group comprised patients with neuroimaging evidence of acute ischemic stroke, whereas the imaging negative stroke code (INS) group included those patients without neuroimaging evidence of acute cerebral ischemia. All final diagnoses were reviewed by an adjudicating body. We reviewed medical records and neuroimaging; compared discharge diagnosis, 90-day modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score, and incidence of intracranial hemorrhage; and adjusted for age, admission National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS), prestroke mRS, and diabetes in multivariable models. Results We identified 106 patients, 74 IPS patients and 32 INS patients, who had similar baseline characteristics, except for baseline NIHSS (IPS 12.9 ± 8.2, INS 8.0 ± 5.6, P = .002) and incidence of cardiac arrhythmias (IPS 32.4%, INS 12.5%, P = .034). The diagnoses in the INS group were stroke (23, 72%)—representing NNCI, somatization (6, 19%), tumor (1, 3%), seizure (1, 3%), and migraine (1, 3%). All IPS patients were diagnosed with acute ischemic stroke. Adjusted for age, baseline NIHSS, prestroke mRS, and diabetes, the INS patients had significantly higher rates (odds ratio 3.04, P = .036) of good functional outcome (90-day mRS score 0-1). Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) was found in 24% of the IPS patients and was symptomatic in 6.8%. None of the INS patients had ICH. Conclusions Because most INS patients were found to have NNCI, which may represent either transient ischemic attack or aborted stroke, and there were no intracerebral hemorrhages in the INS group, our data support the safety of administering IV t-PA to all patients in whom acute ischemic stroke is clinically suspected. We have demonstrated that NNCI patients and stroke mimics are common, and future larger scale prospective studies are required to delineate the true frequencies of each and to evaluate differences in outcomes.
Endocranial Vascular Patterns in a Familial Rabbit Model of Coronal Suture Synostosis

Abstract Objective: The present study investigates the potential relationship between craniosynostosis and any changes in endocranial vasculature. The hypothesis that crania from rabbits with familial, nonsyndromic coronal suture synostosis and crania from rabbits with experimental immobilization of the coronal suture are associated with altered form of the middle meningeal vessels and dural venous sinuses is tested. Design: Silicone rubber endocasts from 14 adult New Zealand white rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) with familial nonsyndromic coronal suture synostosis (five with bilateral coronal suture synostosis and nine with unilateral coronal suture synostosis) were made to assess middle meningeal vessel and dural venous sinus form. For comparative purposes, endocasts were made from 25 rabbits with normal, patent coronal sutures and 10 rabbits with experimental immobilization of the coronal suture. Impressions of the dural venous sinuses were assessed for depth and width. The area of the confluens of sin...
Observations of multi-phase microstructures in R2(Fe1−xCox)14B where R=Nd or Dy

Abstract Multi-phase microstructures were observed in the psuedo-quaternary phase field of the 2–14–1 magnet materials Nd2Fe14B, Nd2Co14B, Dy2Fe14B, and Dy2Co14B. At equilibrium, (Nd1−yDyy)2(Fe1−xCox)14B had heretofore been widely assumed to be single phase where 1>x>0 and 1>y>0. In this study, three-phase microstructures were observed in (Nd1−yDyy)2(Fe1−xCox)14B when x>0.3 and y>0.5. The Curie temperatures and peritectic decomposition temperatures for Nd2(Fe1−xCox)14B are reported for several values of x in the range 1>x>0.
The Mississippian Tetrapod Footprint Ichnogenus Palaeosauropus: Extramorphological Variation and Ichnotaxonomy

Palaeosauropus primaevus is a tetrapod footprint ichnotaxon first described from the Upper Mississippian (Visean) Mauch Chunk Formation near Pottsville, Pennsylvania, United States. Our relocation of the type locality and stratigraphic horizon of P. primaevus, a long-available but unstudied collection of tetrapod footprints from these strata, and our new collections allow a much fuller characterization of this ichnotaxon and the range of extramorphological variation encompassed by it. P. primaevus is characterized as the footprints of a quadruped with a pentadactyl pes and a tetradactyl manus, in which the pes frequently oversteps the manus and with which tail drags are common. In the manus, all digits are relatively broad and have rounded tips, digit III is longest, and digit IV is more widely separated from digit III than the other digits are from each other. The pes has five digits that are also wide and blunt-tipped, digit IV is longest, and digit V projects nearly laterally. P. primaevus is the track...
World agriculture: Towards 2010 : an FAO study

Confronts issues such as hunger, sustainable growth, international inequities in trade, rural poverty, and technological developments. Acidic paper. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.
Experimental assessment of power and temperature penetration depth control with a dual frequency ultrasonic system.

A novel ultrasound applicator for superficial simultaneous thermoradiotherapy consisting of two parallel-opposed linear arrays and a double-sided scanning reflector was constructed and tested for penetration depth control. In this design the arrays operate at different frequencies (1 and 5 MHz, in this study) and the input power to each array element (five 2×2 cm 2 elements per array) is computer adjustable. The ultrasonic beams from the arrays are aimed at the scanning reflector which in turn deflects them simultaneously and in parallel toward the treatment volume. Relative intensity distributions generated by the prototype were measured in a degassed water phantom using a thermal technique for a selected reflector position; these showed that the ultrasonic intensity distribution can be controlled in the lateral dimensions by varying the input power level to individual array elements. A fixed-perfused canine kidney phantom was employed to demonstrate experimentally that real time penetration depth control is possible by varying the excitation magnitude of one array (frequency) relative to that of the other. It is concluded that the dual-frequency scanned-reflected ultrasound applicator offers a degree of dynamic three-dimensional control of the power deposition pattern of clinical significance.
Formation of Sub-100 NM GE Wires on Si by E-Beam Evaporation/Lithography

A fabrication process for sub-100 nm Ge wires on Si substrates is reported for the first time. Wires with a cross section of 6 × 57 nm2 are demonstrated. The wire structures are analyzed by atomic force (AFM), scanning electron (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Sample preparation for TEM is performed using a novel technique using both pre and in situ deposition of multiple protection layers using a Focused Ion Beam (FIB) micromachining system.
Colo-urinary-tract fistula in the cancer patient.

A study of 57 cancer patients with colo-urinarytract fistulas has been presented to define incidence, etiology, anatomy, clinical manifestations, pathology, and management of this difficult problem. Conclusions reached include: 1) Fistulas occur most commonly after surgical treatment and irradiation, and are frequently associated with recurrent cancer. 2) In patients in whom the fistulas are present at the time of manifestation of their cancers (usually colonic cancer) all attempts should be made to achieve a curative resection. 3) Patients in whom fistulas develop after treatment of their cancer must be evaluated with regard to the presence of recurrent disease. 4) Attempts at local treatment of irradiation-induced fistulas have not met with success, and the treatment of choice is usually diversion of fecal and urinary streams. 5) Patients who have fistulas in association with unresectable recurrent disease are best managed by palliative bypass of the fistulas. 6) For those patients who have fistulas in association with resectable recurrent disease, the procedure of choice is resection, usually by pelvic exenteration. 7) These patients need a team approach for successful management of their problems. The team should include a social worker, who can help the family cope with the patient's illness.
SEASONAL PATTERNS OF REPRODUCTION IN NEW YORK. POPULATIONS OF CODIUM FRAGILE (SUR.) HARIOT SUBSP. TOMENTOSOIDES (VAN GOOR) SILVA1,2

SUMMARY The characteristics of reproduction in 2 New York populations of Codium fragile were investigated over nearly a 2-yr period. Reproduction occurred by the exclusive formation of reproductive cells that germinated and developed, asexually. There was no evidence at any time that the reproductive cells fused and thus functioned as gametes. The relative abundance of the reproductive organs on plants in both populations exhibited a marked seasonal variation. New fronds first initiated reproductive organs during July and attained maximum values during the autumn. Formation of new reproductive organs did not occur during the winter and early spring, and those present slowly degenerated so that minimum values occurred during April–May. Reinitiation of reproductive organs on second-year fronds started in May–June. It is proposed that a minimum temperature between 12 and 15 C is required for the initiation of reproductive organs and that temperatures below this range are inhibitory to their formation.
Caffeinated beverages and decreased seizure control

Seizure control is often affected by seizure threshold lowering behaviours. In this case report, the authors address excessive caffeine ingestion from tea with increased seizure frequency. When decaffeinated beverages were substituted for the tea, seizure frequency returned to baseline. Similar findings occurred when the patient was re-challenged. The authors recommend avoidance of excessive caffeine in patients with epilepsy.
A Heuristic Tool for Teaching Business Writing Self-Assessment, Knowledge Transfer, and Writing Exercises

To teach effective business communication, instructors must target students’ current weaknesses in writing. One method for doing so is by assigning writing exercises. When used heuristically, writing exercises encourage students to practice self-assessment, self-evaluation, active learning, and knowledge transfer, all while reinforcing the basics of good writing. Using writing exercises as a diagnostic or maintenance tool at different stages in the semester, in addition to the core assignments, can drastically improve undergraduate and graduate student writing and increase the probability that these students will transfer that writing knowledge into other courses and into their practices as professional writers in industry.
Effect of boundary conditions on the critical behavior of a fi- nite high-dimensional Ising model

Finite-size behavior of the dg4 Ising model with free boundary conditions is studied by a novel techique of expanding the order parameter in standing-wave modes. Results are reported for the behavior of the susceptibilty in various temperature regimes near the bulk critical point. A large ``nonscaling'' temperature shift is needed to describe the scaling properties.
The metal specificity and selectivity of ZntA from Escherichia coli using the acylphosphate intermediate

ZntA from Escherichia coli is a P-type ATPase that confers resistance to Pb(II), Zn(II), and Cd(II) in vivo. We had previously shown that purified ZntA shows ATP hydrolysis activity with the metal ions Pb(II), Zn(II), and Cd(II). In this study, we utilized the acylphosphate formation activity of ZntA to further investigate the substrate specificity of ZntA. The site of phosphorylation was Asp-436, as expected from sequence alignments. We show that in addition to Pb(II), Zn(II), and Cd(II), ZntA is active with Ni(II), Co(II), and Cu(II), but not with Cu(I) and Ag(I). Thus, ZntA is specific for a broad range of divalent soft metal ions. The activities with Ni(II), Co(II), and Cu(II) are extremely low; the activities with these non-physiological substrates are 10-20-fold lower compared with the values obtained with Pb(II), Zn(II), and Cd(II). Similar results were obtained with DeltaN-ZntA, a ZntA derivative lacking the amino-terminal metal binding domain. By characterizing the acylphosphate formation reaction in ZntA in detail, we show that a step prior to enzyme phosphorylation, most likely the metal ion binding step, is the slow step in the reaction mechanism in ZntA. The low activities with Ni(II), Co(II), and Cu(II) are because of a further decrease in the rate of binding of these metal ions. Thus, metal ion selectivity in ZntA and possibly other P1-type ATPases is based on the charge and the ligand preference of particular metal ions but not on their size.
EGO-1, a Putative RNA-Directed RNA Polymerase, Promotes Germline Proliferation in Parallel With GLP-1/Notch Signaling and Regulates the Spatial Organization of Nuclear Pore Complexes and Germline P Granules in Caenorhabditis elegans

Caenorhabditis elegans EGO-1, a putative cellular RNA-directed RNA polymerase, promotes several aspects of germline development, including proliferation, meiosis, and gametogenesis, and ensures a robust response to RNA interference. In C. elegans, GLP-1/Notch signaling from the somatic gonad maintains a population of proliferating germ cells, while entry of germ cells into meiosis is triggered by the GLD-1 and GLD-2 pathways. GLP-1 signaling prevents germ cells from entering meiosis by inhibiting GLD-1 and GLD-2 activity. We originally identified the ego-1 gene on the basis of a genetic interaction with glp-1. Here, we investigate the role of ego-1 in germline proliferation. Our data indicate that EGO-1 does not positively regulate GLP-1 protein levels or GLP-1 signaling activity. Moreover, GLP-1 signaling does not positively regulate EGO-1 activity. EGO-1 does not inhibit expression of GLD-1 protein in the distal germline. Instead, EGO-1 acts in parallel with GLP-1 signaling to influence the proliferation vs. meiosis fate choice. Moreover, EGO-1 and GLD-1 act in parallel to ensure germline health. Finally, the size and distribution of nuclear pore complexes and perinuclear P granules are altered in the absence of EGO-1, effects that disrupt germ cell biology per se and probably limit germline growth.
Association of specific gravity with weight of individual tubers in late crop potatoes

Individual weights and specific gravity values were determined on more than 1,400 tubers representing six varieties and 17 lots of potatoes. Four lots of the 17 gave statistically significant correlation coefficients for weight and specific gravity. Two of the coefficients were positive and two were negative. No explanation of the relation can be given on the basis of location, size of tubers, or average specific gravity of the lot. No practical significance as far as separating potatoes for specific gravity on the basis of weight can be given to any of the relations found.
A real-time video watermarking system with buffer sharing for video-on-demand service

Real-time watermarking for streaming video (such as VOD service) requires significant amounts of computing resources. To address this issue, we present a scalable watermarking scheme integrated in a parallel MPEG-2 engine. A content-based block selection algorithm is proposed to efficiently embed the pseudo-random watermark signatures into DCT blocks. Our watermark scheme also provides a robust way to synchronize the watermarked video to the original source at detectors and is very resilient against cumulative and temporal attack. We optimize the parallel watermark engine to achieve real-time watermarking performance. We found that the system throughput could suffer significant degradation when processing high-level MPEG-2 video (such as HDTV) due to inefficient management of memory space. Therefore, we investigated an efficient buffer management scheme consisting of two methods: First we reduced the transmission buffer in slave nodes by frames sharing between frames in the Group-of-Picture (GOP) level. Then we further reduce the buffer space by a dynamic on-demand allocation on the slave side. By solving the memory-shortage bottleneck, the proposed system can support real-time watermarking for multiple high-resolution (up to 1404x960) video.
St Augustine and the problem of deception in religious persuasion

A substantial body of literature has been produced in the twentieth century by religious and philosophical writers on the ethics of belief. Discussion of this topic has generally focused on the processes leading up to belief within the individual, so that it would not be inaccurate to say that for most of these writers ‘the ethics of belief’ means ‘the ethics of coming–to–believe’. There has been little attention among these writers, however, to the moral questions which surround the production or inducement of beliefs in others, to the ethics of persuasion. An extension of the ethics of belief to cover moral issues which arise in connection with persuasion seems reasonable; the ethics of belief, widely construed, might be said to encompass questions about both the production of beliefs within oneself and the inducement of beliefs in others.
Ictal ontogeny in Dravet syndrome

Abstract Objective To define seizure characteristics of Dravet syndrome (DS) with video-electroencephalographic (EEG) recording in different age groups. Methods We reviewed 23 patients with 63 seizures in different age groups: group 1 (0–5years old); group 2 (6–10years old); and group 3 (11 or above). Results We included 7, 11 and 5 patients in groups 1, 2, and 3 respectively. Younger children had seizures while awake ( p =0.005), provoked seizures ( p =0.05), focal seizure semiology ( p =0.02) and long seizure duration ( p =0.0004). Older children had seizures from sleep ( p =0.004), generalized seizure semiology ( p =0.01) and short seizure duration ( p =0.0007). A generalized ictal discharge was the most commonly observed EEG pattern (15/23, 65%), more frequently found in older children ( p =0.01). Ten patients (43%) had unclassified seizures or seizures with discordant EEG results. Postictal EEG suppression was found in 9 (39%). Conclusion The phenotype of seizures and ictal EEG patterns in DS vary with age. Significance These findings will enhance the recognition of DS in the adolescent population. The incidence of postictal EEG suppression seen in DS is significant because it is a possible biomarker for sudden unexpected death in epilepsy.
Converging Recommendations for Culturally Responsive Literacy Practices: Students with Learning Disabilities, English Language Learners, and Socioculturally Diverse Learners

This study examines culturally responsive pedagogy across the fields of special education, multicultural literacy education, and teaching English language learners. A systematic review of recommendations identified culturally responsive practices in five key areas: dialogue, collaboration, visual representation, explicit instruction, and inquiry. Educators are encouraged to adopt a critical and responsive stance that incorporates students’ cultural knowledge and lived experiences when implementing these recommendations. Creating classrooms that promote culturally responsive and effective instruction is grounded in the definition of literacy as a social practice and leads to more equitable learning opportunities in all areas.
THE CONSISTENCY OF PERFECT AND MONOPOLISTIC COMPETITION

SUMMARY In this paper I have suggested the formal consistency between the models of perfect and monopolistic competition. When products are differentiated only by their quality, the zero-profit equilibrium position of the perfectly competitive firm can be recast diagrammatically in a way which coincides with the traditional exposition of Chamberlinean tangencies. The illusory excess capacity theorem confuses average revenue product curves with demand schedules. These results should hardly be surprising. Indeed, if such a thing as “perfect” competition actually exists (even in theory), it must be conceivable within a model in which firms are allowed to compete in other dimensions as well as price.
Progress on Integrated Optic Waveguide Devices for Fiber Gyro Applications

It is presently widely believed that the production future of fiber optic gyros depends on the development of integrated optic circuits [1] to replace the various bulk optic components and labor intensive components presently utilized in all waveguide systems. Before this can become practical, the fabrication of low-loss integrated optical circuits and the low-loss coupling of single-mode fiber to LiNbO3:Ti in-diffused channel waveguides are also required technologies [2] . This paper reports progress in the areas of fiber -to-chip coupling (Sections II and IV), circuit losses and device fabrication (Section II). The demonstrated fiber-to-channel waveguide coupling efficiencies and measured circuit losses due to waveauide bends and offsets are in agreement with theoretical estimates. A four-port optical switch has been pigtailed with an approach that can be extended to the coupling of fibers to numerous devices on a single chip, as will be required for gyro triads.
Hydraulic performance of fish bypass-pools for irrigation diversion channels.

This paper presents the results of an exploratory study on the hydraulics of a fish bypass-pool that is built to facilitate successful fish passage through an irrigation diversion channel. The hydraulic performance of the bypass-pool was investigated by performing two major experimental runs to evaluate the flow recirculation patterns within the pool when two different outlet configurations were used. This was to determine which outlet design prevents or minimizes the presence of “stagnant” regions within the pool, where fish could rest until ensnared by a predator. These experiments show that the flow from the forebay area of the irrigation diversion structure, entering the pool as a jet, diffuses because of the circulation and turbulence within the bypass pool. The diffusing jet impinges upon the back-wall of the pool and dives into the pool creating several recirculation patterns within the pool. The results collected in this study provide useful information about the jet velocity decay through the poo...
Wound healing in US medical school curricula.

Approximately 6.5 million Americans suffer from nonhealing wounds. As physicians are increasingly expected to manage chronic wounds, the degree to which formalized wound care education exists as a clinical rotation is unclear. For the first time, the prevalence and characteristics of formal wound electives offered by US medical schools are documented. Online surveys were distributed to 134 US medical schools and to the 74 medical students who completed the wound healing elective at the University of Miami regarding their experiences. School response rate was 41% (n = 55). We found that out of 55 schools, only 7 schools offered a formal wound healing elective. The University of Miami was the only school to include a surgical component. Students' response rate was 39% (n = 29). After completing the elective, 20 students (69%) felt confident in their knowledge of surgical and medical wound management. A majority of students (76%, n = 22) felt that the elective was an important part of the medical school curriculum. In conclusion, we found very few schools offer a formal wound elective and recommend medical schools in formalizing this education through clinical electives. Education should be team-based and multidisciplinary; evidence exists that this is the best approach to managing chronic wounds. Basic tenets of wound care, both medical and surgical, should be emphasized.
Nonlinear system identification with pseudorandom multilevel excitation sequences

The authors consider pseudorandom multilevel sequences (PRMS) for the identification of nonlinear systems modeled via a truncated Volterra series with a finite degree of nonlinearity and finite memory length. It is shown that PRMS are persistently exciting (PE) for a Volterra series model with nonlinearities of polynomial degree N if and only if the sequence takes on N+1 or more distinct levels. A computationally efficient least squares identification algorithm based on PRMS inputs is developed that avoids forming the inverse of the data matrix. Simulation results comparing identification accuracy using PRMS and Gaussian white noise are given. >
Demonstration of a Temporal Relationship Between Ethyl Acrylate-Induced Forestomach Cell Proliferation and Carcinogenicity

Ethyl acrylate (EA) is a known forestomach carcinogen in both rats and mice. Recent work in this laboratory indicated that carcinogenic doses of EA administered by gavage for 13 wk resulted in a sustained increase in forestomach epithelial hyperplasia as long as exposure to EA continued. However, hyperplasia regressed and no forestomach neoplasms were seen after a 19-mo recovery period. Current studies were designed to further investigate the time required for sustained hyperplasia to lead to neoplasia as well as the organ specificity of EA-induced cell proliferation/hyperplasia vs carcinogenicity. EA was administered at 200 mg/ kg (po) to male Fischer-344 rats, 5 days/wk. Squamous cell proliferation/hyperplasia was observed in the forestomach of all rats that received EA for 6 or 12 mo. Treatment of rats with EA for 12 mo followed by 2 mo of recovery resulted in the development of forestomach papillomas in 2 of 5 treated rats. Furthermore, animals treated for 12 mo and allowed 9 mo of recovery exhibited ...
Direct puncture of the highest cervical segment of the internal carotid artery for treatment of an iatrogenic carotid cavernous fistula in a patient with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome

A case of an iatrogenic direct carotid cavernous fistula in a patient with a history of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and multiple aneurysms is reported. The fistula developed after unsuccessful surgical thrombectomy and revision of an occluded interposition graft inserted to treat a right internal carotid artery aneurysm. Direct puncture of the right internal carotid artery at the level of the skull base was performed to close the fistula. This case shows that direct puncture at the highest cervical segment of the internal carotid artery is another option for treatment of a direct carotid cavernous fistula when a standard transarterial or transvenous approach is not feasible.
Deficient cortical face-sensitive N170 responses and basic visual processing in schizophrenia

Abstract Background Face detection, an ability to identify a visual stimulus as a face, is impaired in patients with schizophrenia. It is unclear whether impaired face processing in this psychiatric disorder results from face-specific domains or stems from more basic visual domains. In this study, we examined cortical face-sensitive N170 response in schizophrenia, taking into account deficient basic visual contrast processing. Methods We equalized visual contrast signals among patients (n = 20) and controls (n = 20) and between face and tree images, based on their individual perceptual capacities (determined using psychophysical methods). We measured N170, a putative temporal marker of face processing, during face detection and tree detection. Results In controls, N170 amplitudes were significantly greater for faces than trees across all three visual contrast levels tested (perceptual threshold, two times perceptual threshold and 100%). In patients, however, N170 amplitudes did not differ between faces and trees, indicating diminished face selectivity (indexed by the differential responses to face vs. tree). Conclusion These results indicate a lack of face-selectivity in temporal responses of brain machinery putatively responsible for face processing in schizophrenia. This neuroimaging finding suggests that face-specific processing is compromised in this psychiatric disorder.
Molecular Mechanisms Involved in the Interaction Effects of Alcohol and Hepatitis C Virus in Liver Cirrhosis

The mechanisms by which alcohol consumption accelerates liver disease in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) are not well understood. To identify the characteristics of molecular pathways affected by alcohol in HCV patients, we fit probe-set level linear models that included the additive effects as well as the interaction between alcohol and HCV. The study included liver tissue samples from 78 patients, 23 (29.5%) with HCV-cirrhosis, 13 (16.7%) with alcohol-cirrhosis, 23 (29.5%) with HCV/alcohol cirrhosis and 19 (24.4%) with no liver disease (no HCV/no alcohol group). We performed gene-expression profiling by using microarrays. Probe-set expression summaries were calculated by using the robust multiarray average. Probe-set level linear models were fit where probe-set expression was modeled by HCV status, alcohol status, and the interaction between HCV and alcohol. We found that 2172 probe sets (1895 genes) were differentially expressed between HCV cirrhosis versus alcoholic cirrhosis groups. Genes involved in the virus response and the immune response were the more important upregulated genes in HCV cirrhosis. Genes involved in apoptosis regulation were also overexpressed in HCV cirrhosis. Genes of the cytochrome P450 superfamily of enzymes were upregulated in alcoholic cirrhosis, and 1230 probe sets (1051 genes) had a significant interaction estimate. Cell death and cellular growth and proliferation were affected by the interaction between HCV and alcohol. Immune response and response to the virus genes were downregulated in HCV-alcohol interaction (interaction term alcohol*HCV). Alcohol*HCV in the cirrhotic tissues resulted in a strong negative regulation of the apoptosis pattern with concomitant positive regulation of cellular division and proliferation.
Cancer Stem Cell Plasticity Drives Therapeutic Resistance

The connection between epithelial-mesenchymal (E-M) plasticity and cancer stem cell (CSC) properties has been paradigm-shifting, linking tumor cell invasion and metastasis with therapeutic recurrence. However, despite their importance, the molecular pathways involved in generating invasive, metastatic, and therapy-resistant CSCs remain poorly understood. The enrichment of cells with a mesenchymal/CSC phenotype following therapy has been interpreted in two different ways. The original interpretation posited that therapy kills non-CSCs while sparing pre-existing CSCs. However, evidence is emerging that suggests non-CSCs can be induced into a transient, drug-tolerant, CSC-like state by chemotherapy. The ability to transition between distinct cell states may be as critical for the survival of tumor cells following therapy as it is for metastatic progression. Therefore, inhibition of the pathways that promote E-M and CSC plasticity may suppress tumor recurrence following chemotherapy. Here, we review the emerging appreciation for how plasticity confers therapeutic resistance and tumor recurrence.
Morphology Transformations in Ordering and Phase Separating Materials

The physical properties of a multiphase material depend not only on the atomic structure of each constituent phase but also crucially on its microstructure. To design and obtain desirable materials properties, we have to understand and control the kinetics of structural transformations which occur during practical heat treatment of alloys and ceramics. However, almost all phase transformations in real materials take place far from an equilibrium state, i.e., the kinetic processes during heat treatment of alloys and ceramics are highly nonequilibrium. The transformations are often complicated by the existence of various transient or metastable phases along a transformation path. Realistic predictions of such complicated processes require extensive computer simulations combined with modern analytic theories of phase transformations. It is the purpose of this paper to present some of the recent developments of computer simulations of the non-equilibrium and non-linear dynamics of microstructural evolutions during diffusional phase transformations.
Representation Learning for Text-level Discourse Parsing

Text-level discourse parsing is notoriously difficult, as distinctions between discourse relations require subtle semantic judgments that are not easily captured using standard features. In this paper, we present a representation learning approach, in which we transform surface features into a latent space that facilitates RST discourse parsing. By combining the machinery of large-margin transition-based structured prediction with representation learning, our method jointly learns to parse discourse while at the same time learning a discourse-driven projection of surface features. The resulting shift-reduce discourse parser obtains substantial improvements over the previous state-of-the-art in predicting relations and nuclearity on the RST Treebank.
Digital Communication Systems Engineering With Software-Defined Radio (Pu, D. and Wyglinski, A.M.; 2013) [Book/Software Reviews]

The goal of this book is to enable the reader to prototype and evaluate actual digital communication systems capable of performing over-the-air wireless data transmission and reception by providing them with firsthand knowledge of the design tradeoffs and issues associated with these systems as well as with a sense of the real-world operational behaviors of these systems. This book consists of nine chapters and three appendixes.
Interplay of Nitrogen-Atom Inversion and Conformational Inversion in Enantiomerization of 1H-1-Benzazepines.

A series of 2,4-disubstituted 1H-1-benzazepines, 2a–d, 4, and 6, were studied, varying both the substituents at C2 and C4 and at the nitrogen atom. The conformational inversion (ring-flip) and nitrogen-atom inversion (N-inversion) energetics were studied by variable-temperature NMR spectroscopy and computations. The steric bulk of the nitrogen-atom substituent was found to affect both the conformation of the azepine ring and the geometry around the nitrogen atom. Also affected were the Gibbs free energy barriers for the ring-flip and the N-inversion. When the nitrogen-atom substituent was alkyl, as in 2a–c, the geometry of the nitrogen atom was nearly planar and the azepine ring was highly puckered; the result was a relatively high-energy barrier to ring-flip and a low barrier to N-inversion. Conversely, when the nitrogen-atom substituent was a hydrogen atom, as in 2d, 4, and 6, the nitrogen atom was significantly pyramidalized and the azepine ring was less puckered; the result here was a relatively high ...
A New Larval Diet for Musca Domestica (Diptera: Muscidae)

Larvae of the house fly, Musca domestica , reared on Purina Rodent Laboratory Chow® #5001 produced more and heavier pupae than did larvae reared on the conventional CSMA diet. Adult flies produced from the larvae fed Rodent Chow produced significantly more eggs and adult progeny than did adults from larvae fed CSMA. Larvae migrated from wire-bottomed diet pans, which were raised 0.5 cm above the sandcovered collecting pan after 4 days, and mechanical separation of pupae from spent larval medium was thus unnecessary.
Population Dynamics of Bison in the Henry Mountains, Utah

We assessed structure, survival, productivity, and growth of a Bison bison population in southern Utah during 7 years. Consistently female-biased sex ratios resulted from male-biased hunting mortality and possibly from lower survival of young males. Survival, excluding hunting mortality, was high for all animals and probably was facilitated by a lack of predators and by prolonged parental care of young. Productivity was correlated nonlinearly with precipitation and was lower than in other herds, possibly because of relatively sparse forage. The herd has been increasing exponentially since establishment in the early 1940's, despite annual hunts, low forage production, and possible competition with domestic cattle. Increase has been particularly rapid during an extraordinary series of relatively wet years since the drought of 1977, raising the question of whether the herd has exceeded long-term carrying capacity.
Reactions in Canine Skin with Human Leukocyte Lysates

SummaryTwo types of local reactions in canine skin were observed after intradermal injection of chromatographically prepared fractions of human perpheral blood leukocyte lysates. The first reaction peaked within 4 hr after injection, appeared unrelated to antigen, and was characterized by a mild diffuse mononuclear and polymorpho-nuclear infiltrate in the subcutaneous tissue. The second response peaked 30 hr after the injection of antigen onto the site previously prepared with leukocyte lysate. This response appeared to be antigen specific, and was characterized by an early perivascular mononuclear infiltrate followed by a diffuse mononuclear and polymorphonuclear accumulation in the subcutaneous region. PeaksI and IV most consistently gave positive results.
Cosmological singularity theorems and black holes

An extension of Penrose's singularity theorem is proved for spacetimes where black holes are allowed to form from nonsingular initial data. With standard assumptions about the spacetime, and assuming the existence of a trapped surface which lies outside of black hole horizons and is not completely surrounded by horizons, we show that the spacetime region outside (or on) the horizons must contain singularities. If the trapped surface is surrounded by horizons, we show that the horizons divide spacetime into causally disconnected pieces. Unlike the original Penrose theorem, our theorems provide some information about the location of singularities. We illustrate how they can be used to rule out some cosmological scenarios.
Measuring nursing work in long-term care. The reliability and validity of the Leatt Measure of Nursing Technology.

A projected 400% increase in the number of people age 85 and older by the year 2010, with one fourth of them needing nursing home care, forces attention on long-term care. This study establishes the validity and reliability of the Leatt Measure of Nursing Technology (LMNT) as a measure of the nature of nursing work in long-term care settings. The LMNT subscales measure the amount of uncertainty, instability, and variability of work which includes, but is not limited to, the technical equipment used. The LMNT was administered to licensed nursing staff in nine long-term care facilities in the Seattle area to evaluate its use in this environment. The nursing homes represented both for-profit and not-for-profit, and large (more than 250 beds) and small (70 beds) facilities. A total of 113 usable questionnaires were returned (45% response rate). Cronbach's alpha for subscales were .71 for Uncertainty, .66 for Instability, and .56 for Variability, with .77 for the total scale. Construct validity was evaluated by factor analysis, which confirmed the original factor structure. Content validity was evaluated using focus group discussions with key informants at each facility. A comparative analysis was used to determine major and minor themes in each of the instrument subscale topic areas. Qualitative analysis, combined with reliability and item level analyses, resulted in suggested minor changes in the instrument to make it more usable in long-term care settings. While some revisions are suggested, a concerted effort must be made to preserve the ability to compare findings with those obtained using the LMNT in acute care settings by retaining the general structures and factors of the measure.