cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Elephant: Network Intrusion Detection Systems that Don't Forget

Modern Network Intrusion Detection Systems (NIDSs) maintain state that helps them accurately detect attacks. Because most NIDSs are signature-based, it is critical to update their rule-sets frequently; unfortunately, doing so can result in downtime that causes state to be lost, leading to vulnerabilities of attack misclassification. In this paper, we show that such vulnerabilities do exist and provide a way to avoid them. Using the open-source NIDS Snort, we present Elephant, an approach and implementation for updating rule-sets that provides a way to cause Snort to enter a safe quiescent point, load the new rules into memory, and remove the old rules from memory-all while preserving the state that is required to make sure that the NIDS does not miss attacks. We provide a critique and performance evaluation of our technique.
Scheduling Design and Verification for Open Soft Real-Time Systems

Open soft real-time systems, such as mobile robots, experience unpredictable interactions with their environments and yet must respond both adaptively and with reasonable temporal predictability. New scheduling approaches are needed to address the demands of such systems, in which many of the assumptions made by traditional real-time scheduling theory do not hold. In previous work we established foundations for a scheduling policy design and verification approach for open soft real-time systems, that can use different decision models, e.g., a Markov decision process (MDP), to capture the nuances of their scheduling semantics.However, several important refinements to the preliminary techniques developed in that work are needed to make the approach applicable in practice. This paper makes three main contributions to the state of the art in scheduling open soft real-time systems: (1) it defines a novel representation of the scheduling state space that is both more compact and more expressive than the model defined in our previous work; (2) it exploits regular structure of that representation to allow efficient verification of properties involving both discrete and continuous system state variables under specific scheduling policies; and (3) it removes the unnecessary use of a time horizon in our previous approach, thus allowing the more precise specification and enforcement of a wider range of scheduling policies for open soft real-time systems.
Intestinal stasis and rupture in rabbits

During one year 23 of 110 New Zealand white, adult male laboratory rabbits died. The pathological findings included intestinal stasis, intestinal blockage, acute intestinal rupture and intestinal rupture with peritonitis. These changes were considered to represent stages in an intestinal stasis and rupture syndrome. Another group of 20 comparable rabbits remained unaffected.
Load balancing on generalized hypercube and mesh multiprocessors with LAL

A typical nearest neighbor balancing strategy, called LAL (local average load), in which the workload of a processor is averaged among its nearest neighbors at discrete time steps is investigated. The underlying systems considered are multiprocessor systems interconnected by generalized hypercube (GHC), mesh and loop structures. It is assumed that the amount of computation tasks arriving at or finished by a processor at each time step can be described by a random variable with some general distribution. With some general assumptions about these random variables, it is shown that the expected difference between the actual load of a processor and the average load of the system is zero and the variance of this difference is bounded by a constant independent of time. >
Gastric and small intestinal ileus as a cause of acute colic in the post parturient mare.

Summary Reasons for performing study: Ileus (functional obstruction of aboral gastrointestinal transit) is an uncommon cause of gastrointestinal dysfunction and colic in the horse. A number of specific conditions have been previously reported in association with ileus. This report describes the recognition of primary gastric and small intestinal ileus of undetermined cause in a series of post parturient mares. Objectives: To describe the clinical features, treatment and outcome of a series of episodes of primary gastric and small intestinal ileus. Methods: A retrospective study was performed of colic episodes seen in an equine practice in Newmarket, UK over a 6 year period (2002–2007). Results: Seventeen episodes of gastric and small intestinal ileus were identified, which occurred in 15 horses. All episodes occurred in post parturient mares. No previously reported cause of ileus was identified in any of the episodes. Fifteen of the 17 episodes received medical treatment (medical support and nasogastric decompression) and, in addition, surgical decompression was performed in 9 episodes. Two mares were subjected to euthanasia before treatment due to the presence of gastric rupture and the remaining 13 mares survived with a follow-up period of at least 10 months. Two mares suffered a further episode of gastric and small intestinal ileus, one 4 days and the other 2 years after the initial episode. Conclusions: Gastric and small intestinal ileus of, as yet, unknown aetiology appears to be a potential cause of acute colic in the post parturient mare. The outcome following treatment by decompression is good. Potential relevance: Knowledge of this condition should allow early recognition and successful treatment of future episodes. Further epidemiological studies are needed to allow the aetiology of the condition to be determined.
El Estado, los mercados y el financiamiento del desarrollo

En este articulo se analiza el papel del Estado, las instituciones y los mercados financieros en la financiacion del desarrollo economico, y en especial el papel de los bancos de desarrollo. Se examinan brevemente los limites del enfoque convencional actual sobre los problemas de financiacion del desarrollo. Se hace hincapie en las asimetrias de informacion como causa de racionamiento del credito y de mala distribucion del ahorro. Luego se presenta un analisis del papel del Estado y de los mercados en la financiacion del desarrollo, asi como una agenda de politicas que surge de la postura diferente que aqui se expone. En la conclusion se formulan algunas consideraciones sobre los problemas y retos que se plantean actualmente para la financiacion del desarrollo en el ambito latinoamericano.
A streamlined metallic radome

The results of research and development, fabrication, and measured transmission performance for a specific streamlined metallic radome are contained in this paper. The measured results presented demonstrate that high-quality radome transmission performance can be attained with a streamlined metallic radome. The conical metallic radome presented is 6 ft 4 in long and has a base diameter of 25.5 in. The specially designed resonant slotted surface of the metallic radome consists of 90 percent metal and, for frequencies within its operating band, the radome permits transmission with any signal polarization over a wide range of scan angles. At its 8.90 GHz resonant frequency the metallic radome introduces less than 0.5 dB signal loss and less than 2 mrad boresight error. This radome has been purposely designed for operation over a narrow frequency band. Over a 200 MHz band, measured insertion loss and boresight error values of 1 dB and 6 mrad, respectively, are attained.
More than a gut feeling: predicting surgical necrotising enterocolitis

Despite recent advances in neonatal practice, necrotising enterocolitis (NEC) remains the most common and devastating gastrointestinal emergency in premature infants. In fact, as more extremely premature infants survive, the incidence appears to be increasing worldwide.1 Severe NEC is characterised by coagulative necrosis of the distal ileum and proximal colon with clinical presentation ranging from abdominal distension, pneumatosis intestinalis, frank blood in stools, intestinal gangrene, bowel perforation, sepsis and shock. Approximately 9000 infants develop NEC in the USA each year and mortality rates range from 10%–50%.2 ,3 The associated costs—both financial and personal—are significant; the average hospital stay for infants with surgical NEC is an additional 43.1 days at an average additional cost of US$200 000 per child compared with extremely low birthweight infants without NEC.4 Treatment strategies are mainly supportive and include administration of antibiotics and fluids, blood product replacement and withholding of feedings. About 40% of NEC patients require surgery to remove necrotic bowel, which can result in short bowel syndrome, with prolonged medical expenses and chronic gastrointestinal difficulties. In particular, surgical NEC is a significant predictor of lasting neurodevelopmental morbidity independent of other factors.5 ,6 While the outcomes for many prematurity-related illnesses have improved over the past decades, mortality and …
Fiscal Crisis in a Therapeutic Community

Financial problems beset many service delivery agencies involved in the treatment and prevention of addiction. In this paper we review the history of a therapeutic community which initially thrived and then began to decline as monetary support diminished. We focus on the communication patterns during the treatment center's existence and illustrate changes in these patterns which are indicative of the "health" of the organization. The explanation of the rise and fall of the private, nonprofit organization is couched in contemporary organization theory--i.e., we treat the therapeutic community as a unit in a system of service-delivery organizations. Research procedures are outlined to facilitate replication.
Silicon micromachined SCALED technology

Silicon micromachining technology will play an important role in the fabrication of high-bandwidth servo controlled microelectromechanical (mechatronic) components for super-compact disk drives. At the University of California, Los Angeles, and the California Institute of Technology, for the last three years, we have initiated a number of industry-supported joint research projects to develop the necessary technology building blocks for an integrated drive design of the future. These efforts include a silicon read/write head microgimbal with integrated electrical and mechanical interconnects, which targets the next-generation 30% form factor pico-sliders, and an electromagnetic piggyback microactuator in super-high-track-density applications, both of which utilize state-of-the-art silicon micromachining fabrication techniques. >
An Exploratory Study of Lifestyle Entrepreneurship and Its Relationship to Life Quality

This exploratory study examined the relationship between lifestyle entrepreneurship and life quality. The researchers defined lifestyle entrepreneurs as individuals who owned and operated businesses closely aligned with their personal values, interests, and passions. Researchers used a systems theory perspective to examine the role and impact of lifestyle entrepreneurship on life quality for individual business owners, their families, and communities. Through 12 descriptive case studies, researchers examined characteristics of lifestyle entrepreneurs, their businesses, and their perceived life quality. Many of the entrepreneurs owned and operated businesses related to family and consumer sciences, including apparel retail, interiors, food service, and hospitality firms. Two common themes emerged from the data: enhancement of business owners' quality of life as a result of the entrepreneurial venture and a perception of the entrepreneurial venture providing enhanced quality of life to employees, customers, and the community.
Latex content and biomass increase in mycorrhizal guayule (Partheniurn argentatum) under field conditions

SUMMARY Guayule seedlings were inoculated with two Glomus species in pasteurised soil and grown in the glasshouse without added fertiliser for 8 wk prior to transplanting to the field. The survival rate of transplanted guayule seedlings was increased by inoculation with vesicular arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi compared with uninoculated controls. Inoculated guayule had greater concentrations of Ca, Fe, Mg and Mn at six months of age, and greater concentrations of Ca, Mg, and Zn at 12 months of age than did uninoculated plants. The latex content of both roots and shoots of guayule was greater in inoculated than in uninoculated guayule plants at 12 and 18 months of age. The resin content remained unchanged between treatments irrespective of sampling date.
Cosmogenic chlorine-36 production rates in terrestrial rocks

Abstract Chlorine-36 is produced in rocks exposed to cosmic rays at the earth surface through thermal neutron activation of 35Cl, spallation of 39K and 40Ca, and slow negative moun capture by 40Ca. We have measured the 36Cl content of 14C-dated glacial boulders from the White Mountains in eastern California and in a 14C-dated basalt flow from Utah. Effective, time-intergrated production parameters were calculated by simultaneous solution of the 36Cl production equations. The production rates due to spallation are 4160 ± 310 and 3050 ± 210 atoms 36Cl yr−1 mol−139K and 40Ca, respectively. The thermal neutron capture rate was calculated to be (3.07 ± 0.24) × 105 neutrons (kg of rock)−1 yr−1. The reported values are normalized to sea level and high geomagnetic latitudes. Production of 36Cl at different altitudes and latitudes can be estimated by appropriate scaling of the sea level rates. Chlorine-36 dating was performed on carbonate ejecta from Meteor Crater, Arizona, and late Pleistocene morainal boulders from the Sierra Nevada, California. Calculated 36Cl ages are in good agreement with previously reported ages obtained using independent methods.
Iris Recognition: The Path Forward

Iris recognition systems have made tremendous inroads over the past decade, but work remains to improve their accuracy in environments characterized by unfavorable lighting, large stand-off distances, and moving subjects.
Premenarchal Athletic Injury to the Breast Bud as the Cause for Asymmetry: Prevention and Treatment

Some variation in breast size is normal and is common in most women. When this variation becomes large and appreciable asymmetry develops--greater than a one-cup size difference--the asymmetry often disrupts the patient's life. The etiology of most breast asymmetries is unknown; however, current theories on causes include endocrine, iatrogenic, and traumatic injury. The Tulane University Plastic Surgery Service recently evaluated two cases of breast asymmetries that developed after traumatic injury to the breast bud while the body was under increased physical stress. Both girls sustained injuries at approximately 10 to 11 years old (Tanner Stages I-II) while participating in gymnastics.
Robust analysis of optimal flow control for reducing fluid transients

In this paper, the control robustness of the optimal flow control for eliminating nonlinear fluid transients is analyzed to assure that the control system can still perform transients reduction when the system is subjected to uncertainty. Effects of the system uncertainties on the control stability and accuracy are studied. For conducting quantitative analysis, disturbances were imposed to represent the uncertainties. The results show that the condition of control stability is strongly affected by the system disturbances representing the uncertainties. In order to maintain the stability of the control system, the tolerable amount of uncertainties is very slim. It is therefore recommended to adopt the adaptive control scheme for the optimal flow control. >
Historic Preservation Grants to Houses of Worship: A Case Study in the Survival of Separationism

The movement in the law of the Religion Clauses from Separationism, which requires distinctive treatment of religious institutions, to Neutralism, which prohibits such distinctive treatment, has been proceeding for the past twenty years. In some legal contexts, however, this movement has occurred erratically or incompletely, and normative questions remain about whether this paradigm change should proceed with respect to all relevant issues. In this paper, we test the positive and normative implications of the shift by exploring in detail a particular, heretofore unexamined legal context - government grants to active houses of worship for historic preservation. Many states have schemes of historic preservation, which include coercive regulation designed to preserve the historic character of landmarked properties. These regulatory regimes have been challenged as applied to properties owned by religious entities, and courts have reached disparate results on the merits of these challenges. Historic preservation schemes also include the possibility of government grants for the support of preservation efforts, and no court has yet been asked to rule on the permissibility of such grants. In the paper, we begin by analyzing the existing Supreme Court precedent on state financial support for the construction or preservation of places devoted to worship or religious teaching. After briefly reviewing the movement from Separationism to Neutralism, we collect and appraise materials on historic preservation. These include the leading court decisions on landmark regulation of houses of worship; conflicting opinion letters on the permissibility of preservation grants for such structures from Joseph Lieberman (then-Attorney General of Connecticut), and Walter Dellinger (then-Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Counsel, DOJ); and information from federal agencies and state historic preservation commissions concerning their current policies with respect to such grants. This review of policy reveals a remarkable degree of disparity, as various levels of government struggle to come to grips with changes in the relevant law. We conclude the paper by invoking a principle of Religion Clause symmetry - what the government may regulate it may also subsidize - and by suggesting that the religion-specific line between permissible and impermissible subsidy (and regulation) should be drawn between the exterior and interior of houses of worship.
Swarming Behavior of Aedes polynesiensis (Diptera: Culicidae) and Characterization of Swarm Markers in American Samoa

We characterize the swarming behavior of male Aedes polynesiensis (Marks) in American Samoa. Instead of swarming around a blood host, males used the base of certain trees as a marker. Repeated sampling proved nondestructive and allowed us to investigate the impact of static (e.g., tree species) and dynamic (e.g., barometric pressure) characters on the likelihood of swarm presence and intensity. Tree circumference and oviposition activity (number of Ae. polynesiensis reared from oviposition cups) were significant positive predictors of the number of males in a swarm. Tree circumference and diameter were significantly positively associated, and canopy height was significantly negatively associated, with swarm occurrence. Comparisons between males swarming early and late during the swarming period allowed for insight into swarm composition in terms of male size and the amount of putative fluid (e.g., nectar) in the crop, indicators of energetic reserves. Males collected during the late period had significantly larger wings and less crop contents than did males of the early cohort. Because the ecology of male Ae. polynesiensis remains understudied, we consider how the current results could facilitate further studies related to applied autocidal strategies as well as the evolution of host-based mating behavior.
Mean field and effective cross sections in hot nuclei

Abstract Collisions between heavy nuclei produce nuclear matter of high density and excitation. Brueckner methods are used to calculate the momentum- and temperature-dependent mean field for nucleons propagating through nuclear matter during these collisions. The use of a potential model for the NN interactions is bypassed by calculating the Brueckner reaction matrix directly from the NN phase shifts using a version of Brueckner theory previously published by the author. Arndt phase-shift solutions up to 1600 MeV in energy are used. The binding energy of nuclear matter is normalized to −15.5 MeV by adjusting one free parameter. This gives a saturation density of 0.16 fm −3 and the compressibility is 200–250 MeV. The temperature and density dependence of the effective interaction is shown. The mean field is complex and the real part relates to “one-body” collisions while the imaginary part is related to the “two-body” collision term in transport theory. The error in using free cross-sections when calculating the imaginary part is in general less than 20% but can be at least as large as 75%. The influence of the mean field (effective mass) on the collision term is emphasized.
Sports in patients with arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia/cardiomyopathy and desmosomal mutations.

Arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia/cardiomyopathy (ARVD/C) is a rare cardiomyopathy associated with life-threatening arrhythmias and an increased risk of sudden cardiac death. In addition to mutations in desmosomal genes, environmental factors such as exercise and sport have been implicated in the pathogenesis of the disease. Recent studies have shown that exercise may be associated with adverse outcomes in patients with ARVD/C. On the basis of current evidence, patients with ARVD/C are recommended to limit exercise irrespective of their mutation status. Some studies have suggested the presence of an entirely acquired form of the disease caused by exercise, which has been dubbed “exercise-induced ARVD/C.”
Pediatric Facial Fractures

Falls, motor vehicle accidents, and sports-related activities are the leading causes of facial trauma in children. Children below 6 years of age suffer more orbital roof and skull fractures than facial fractures due to proportionally larger cranial volume. Nasal and dentoalveolar fractures are the most common facial fractures in children. Nasal septal hematoma need to be detected early and drained promptly to avoid complications. Mandible fractures are the most common facial fractures treated in the hospital setting. Intermaxillary fixation is limited to 2–3 weeks and is followed by 6–8 weeks of using guiding elastic bands. It is often necessary to overcorrect nasoethmoid fracture-induced telecanthus to obtain long-term satisfactory results. Rib or calvarial bone grafts are preferred over alloplastic materials in the reconstruction of pediatric bony defects.
Benefits of Digital Phased Array Radars

In this paper, an overview is given of the radar benefits of digital arrays in comparison with conventional phased arrays. Considered are passive and active phased arrays as well as subarray- and element-level digital arrays; their key differences are highlighted. A discussion of several radar attributes and performance measures follows to show the advantages and promise of element-level digital arrays as the newest generation architecture for radar and other electronic systems. Radar attributes considered are antenna patterns and beam control (including adaptive interference cancellation), dynamic range, in-band linearity, system phase noise, and angle measurement accuracy.
A Bibliography of North American Cherry Fruit Flies (Diptera: Tephritidae)

Cherry fruit flies (cherry maggots) are by far the most destructive pests of cultivated cherries in the world. The damage caused by these insects is very serious, and because of almost zero population tolerance, enormous amounts of pesticides are used to obtain acceptable fruit. Four species of fruit flies are known to cause significant damage to cultivated cherries. These are the European cherry fruit fly, Rhagoletis cerasi L., the black cherry fruit fly, Rhagoletis fausta (Osten Sacken), the cherry fruit fly, Rhagoletis cingulata (Loew), and the western cherry fruit fly, Rhagoletis indifferens Curran. Of these, the latter three are native North American species (Bush 1966, AliNiazee 1973). The western cherry fruit fly is distributed in west coast areas from California to British Columbia and in parts of Idaho, Montana, Utah, and Colorado. The cherry fruit fly R. cingulata is distributed in the eastern half of North America, east of Iowa. The black cherry fruit fly, R. fausta occurs in both eastern and western North America, but it is significantly less important on cultivated cherries than the other two species. The European cherry fruit fly is native to Europe. It was introduced to this country many times, but never became established in North America.
Coupled cluster Green function: Model involving single and double excitations

In this paper, we report on the development of a parallel implementation of the coupled-cluster (CC) Green function formulation (GFCC) employing single and double excitations in the cluster operator (GFCCSD). A key aspect of this work is the determination of the frequency dependent self-energy, Σ(ω). The detailed description of the underlying algorithm is provided, including approximations used that preserve the pole structure of the full GFCCSD method, thereby reducing the computational costs while maintaining an accurate character of methodology. Furthermore, for systems with strong local correlation, our formulation reveals a diagonally dominate block structure where as the non-local correlation increases, the block size increases proportionally. To demonstrate the accuracy of our approach, several examples including calculations of ionization potentials for benchmark systems are presented and compared against experiment.
Commentary Regarding Bui, Craig, and Imberman (2011): Is Gifted Education a Bright Idea? Assessing the Impacts of Gifted and Talented Programs on Achievement

Using data from a large southwestern school district, Bui, Craig, and Imberman investigated the effects of gifted and talented programming on middle school students’ achievement and behavior (atten...
Measurement of the distal traction distance of the mandibular dentition and the assessment of the posterior limit of the mandibular arch

Objective To study the effective tracting distance of the mandibular dentition and to find the posterior boundary of the lower arch during the distalizing of the mandibular dentition.Methods 18 cases were selected(6 males,12 females) with mandibular third molar extracted or missing.Skeletal anchorage implants were used to distalize the mandibular dentition to the posterior limit of the dentition.The distance between the mandibular second molar and the ramus was measured on panoramic radiographs at pretreatment and posttreatment.All the data were analyzed statistically.Results The moving distance of mandibular molar was(3.49±1.21)mm.After treatment,the distance between the mandibular second molar and the ramus was(4.43±0.97)mm.Conclusion The mandibular dentition can be distalized by orthodontic treatment,teeth movement is limited and restricted by the thickness of the soft tissue prior to the ramus.
Analysis on the survey results of the population infection status of important parasitic diseases in Lufeng city in 2010

Objective To know about and grasp the population infection status of important parasitic diseases in Lufeng city and provide scientific basis for making the control countermeasures and evaluating the control effect. Methods The stool samples of permanent residents over 3 years old were collected and examined by modified Kato-Katz technique for the eggs of important parasites such as hookworm, ascaris and whipworm. At the meantime, children at 3-12 years old were examined for threadworm by cellophane swab method. Results 1 000 persons took stool examination in 5 survey sites,with 79 being found infected and mean infection rate of 7.9%,of which the infection rates of hookworm,ascaris, whipworm and threadworm were 2.6%,0.3%,4.9% and 0.2%,respectively. 970 children were examined for threadworm,with an infection rate of 12.6%.EPGs of hookworm,ascaris and whipworm infected persons were 24.2,120 and 25.7,respectively,and all were mild infection.The survey site with the highest infection rate by tool examination was Chengdong town (14.5%),and the site with the lowest infection rate was Beiyang town (5.0%). Difference between the infection rates in different survey sites was statistically significant(X2=15.86,P0.01). The highest infection rate for age groups was that of 50-60 years-old group and the lowest was that of over 60 years-old group.The highest infection rate for education levels was that of junior middle school level and difference between the infection rates in different education levels was not statistically significant(X2=5.55,P0.05). Conclusions The population infection status of important parasitic diseases in Lufeng city was at a lower level. The infection rates of ascaris and hookworm and the threadworm of children were apparently lower than the infection levels in the current-status survey of human important parasitic diseases of Guangdong province in 2001-2004.
ANALYSIS OF SEEPAGE MECHANICS CONDITION FOR STABLE MOVEMENT OF GAS-WATER INTERFACE

Stable movement and uniform advancing of gas-water interface are important for stable production of gas well and improvement recovery of gas reservoirs.In this paper,if edge-water gas reservoir is of homogeneous isotropy and initial gas-water interface is horizontal,we derived out condition of gas seepage velocity of stable movement for gas-water interface with basic law of Darcy seepage,the same as,proposed conclusion in this paper presented basic for confirming reasonable production of gas well in edge-water gas reservoirs.
The challenge of bacterial meningitis.

Acute CNS infection, often originating in the otonasopharyngeal structures, remains a major problem in children with respect to frequency and severity of consequences. Optimal chemotherapy is outlined.
Research as Profession and Practice: Frameworks for Guiding the Responsible Conduct of Research

Programs in the responsible conduct of research (RCR) vary between institutions, demonstrated by disparate structures and goals. These variations may be attributed to the absence of grounding frameworks within which to examine research and RCR education programs. This article examines research as a practice and a profession, using these frames to draw out defining features of research and the moral obligations entailed. Situating research within virtue ethics can clarify how researchers might cultivate the virtues necessary for meeting its obligations and aims. By elucidating these features, these perspectives can serve to guide the development of RCR education programs.
Polymerase θ is a robust terminal transferase that oscillates between three different mechanisms during end-joining

DNA polymerases are enzymes that replicate DNA by using single-stranded DNA as a template. DNA replication is needed to duplicate an organism’s genome, and repair it if it is damaged. For example, when DNA double-strand breaks occur in the genome, DNA polymerases help repair these potentially lethal DNA breaks. If not repaired accurately, double-strand breaks in DNA can lead to genetic mutations and cancer. Cells have evolved many different pathways to repair damaged DNA. DNA polymerase θ (called Polθ for short) is a key player in a repair mechanism called ‘alternative end-joining’ in mammals. In this pathway, certain enzymes trim back DNA strands on both sides of the double-stranded break to expose overhanging single strands of DNA. Polθ binds to the ends of both overhanging strands and helps them pair up with each other. Polθ then extends each single strand using the opposing overhanging strand as a template. After the gaps are filled, the DNA junction is sealed to form double-stranded DNA by other enzymes. Previous research suggested that during alternative end-joining Polθ extends single-stranded DNA by using a guiding template strand or not using a template strand. As a consequence, Polθ frequently inserts extra pieces of DNA at the repair junction thereby introducing mutations in the DNA. It is poorly understood how this unusual DNA synthesis mechanism takes place. Kent et al. have now investigated how Polθ extends single-stranded DNA and introduces extra DNA segments during alternative end-joining. Biochemical experiments showed that Polθ spontaneously switches between three distinct modes in which single-stranded DNA is extended. The first mode does not use a template; the second uses the opposing overhanging strand as a template; and the third uses the same overhanging strand which folds back (or snaps-back) on itself to act a template. Kent et al. also found that extra DNA pieces are inserted in all these three different modes of activity, and that this process occurs in mouse cells too. Additionally, single-stranded extension without a template was shown to be stimulated by manganese ions. Thus by spontaneously switching between three different modes of single-stranded DNA extension, Polθ is able to incorporate diverse DNA sequence segments at DNA repair junctions. Further work is now needed to understand whether abnormal activity of Polθ contributes to cancer.
Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy of Microperoxidase Adsorbed on Self-Assembled Monolayers

Microperoxidase-11 (MP-11) is an undecapeptide obtained from pepsin digestion of cytochrome c. It is considered a model for c-type cytochromes in that it retains residues 11–221 of the protein, which includes Cys-14 and Cys-17 that are bonded to the heme c vinyl groups and His-18 that serves as a proximal fifth ligand to the Fe atom. It is considered a peroxidase because of its activity, which is similar to that of peroxidases in several ways. Previous surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) studies of MP-11 adsorbed on a Ag electrode have shown that the heme undergoes photoreduction when irradiated with laser light. The electron is believed to originate from silver surface via photoemission. In the present study a series of self-assembled, surface-modifiers (e.g. thiol compounds, detergents and poly-L-lysine) have been used in an attempt to preserve the structure and oxidation state of the peptide at the surface. Electrochemical measurements were undertaken to determine the electron transfer properties of the peptide at bare and modified surfaces. The photostability was examined by SERS at silver surfaces. In some cases, the modifiers were found to improve dramatically the electron transfer kinetics and photostability of MP-11.
Preliminary study of neurite outgrowth within polyimide microtubes

The cone electrode first developed by P.R.Kennedy paved headway in the area of cortical prostheses. While effective, to date, no optimization of the materials, length, diameter or controlling neurotrophic effects have been extensively quantified for such systems. This paper describes an in-vitro model system for the study of neurite outgrowth using PC-12 cells and an array of polyimide microtubes. Our aim is to obtain preliminary design specifications for the eventual optimization of in-vivo neurotrophic electrodes. We performed preliminary characterization of the number and average lengths of PC-12 neurites that penetrated into the tubes mounted within a standard Petri dish. To describe system performance, we observed an increase in the average number of neurites that grew into the tubes over a period of days. We also observed an increase in the average length of the neurites (with a 95% confidence) between day 3 and day 4 of between 14.97 /spl mu/m and 62.27 /spl mu/m. In addition, we measured a length change (with a 95% confidence) between day 4 and day 6 of 93.51 /spl mu/m and 145.45 /spl mu/m. These results will soon be augmented by quantification of neurites using a photo lithographically patterned glass microgroove system.
Validating Health Literacy and Numeracy Measures in Minority Groups.

Background Validation studies of existing health literacy or numeracy tools among racial/ethnic minorities are limited. Objective This study assessed the validity of the Subjective Numeracy Scale (SNS), the Diabetes Numeracy Test (DNT-5), the Brief Health Literacy Screen (BHLS), and the Short Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults (S-TOFHLA) by trait (health literacy or numeracy) and by method (subjective or objective) among non-Hispanic white (NHW), non-Hispanic black (NHB), and Hispanic patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Methods We conducted a secondary analysis of baseline data from the Partnering to Improve Diabetes Education (PRIDE) study, a clustered randomized controlled trial testing the efficacy of a health communication intervention on T2DM outcomes at state Department of Health clinics in middle Tennessee. PRIDE participants with race/ethnicity data available (n = 398) were included in this study. Most patients identified as NHW (59%), 18% identified as NHB, and 23% identified as Hispanic. Pearson correlations among the 4 measures were compared for each racial/ethnic group by trait and method. The convergent validity of each measure with education was also assessed using Pearson correlation analyses. Key results Significant correlations were observed across all 3 subgroups for the numeracy measures (SNS and DNT-5) and the objective measures (DNT-5 and S-TOFHLA). Nonsignificant correlations were observed among Hispanic participants for the health literacy measures (BHLS and S-TOFHLA, correlation coefficient = 0.13) and among NHB and Hispanic participants for the subjective measures (SNS and BHLS, correlations coefficients = 0.15 and 0.09, respectively). A significant positive correlation was noted between education and each measure across all 3 subgroups. Conclusions Subjective and health literacy measures demonstrate weaker correlations than objective and numeracy measures, respectively, among minority patients in this study. Our findings highlight the need to further evaluate the appropriateness of these tools for use with minority populations, particularly the BHLS for Hispanic patients.
Non-contact Tomographic Imaging and Nanocomposite Thin Films for Monitoring Human-prosthesis Interfaces

Abstract The objective of this work is to develop a non-contact, non-invasive technique for monitoring human-prosthesis interfaces, such as the development of infection. The monitoring scheme proposed works by coupling electrical capacitance tomography (ECT) with a pH-sensitive nanocomposite thin film applied at the human-prosthesis interface. In short, ECT uses applied electrical excitations and measurements at the boundaries to reconstruct the spatial permittivity distribution inside the sensing region. The pH-sensitive nanocomposite pronounces permittivity changes due to issues occurring at the human-prosthesis interface, thereby enhancing detection sensitivity and resolution. First, numerical simulations were performed by altering the permittivity at selected locations in a mathematical model to simulate the effect of infections near a prosthesis. The extent and shape of the perturbed permittivity was captured by numerical simulations of ECT. Second, experiments were conducted in the laboratory to validate the monitoring system and sensing scheme. Here, a pH-sensitive thin film was fabricated using carbon nanotubes and polyaniline. The thin film's pH sensitivity was characterized by exposing it to different pH buffer solutions and measuring its corresponding dielectric property changes. A circular plastic rod was then used as a phantom for a human prosthesis, for example, to simulate the portion of an artificial limb that would be embedded in and bonded to the human body. The thin film was then deposited onto the surface of the prosthetic phantom and exposed to different pH buffer solutions. For each case, the ECT monitoring system was used to interrogate the prosthetic phantom placed in the sensing area. Not only did the system detect changes in permittivity due to different pH buffers, but the reconstructed permittivity maps also identified the location of the permittivity changes, as well as the prosthesis itself.
Ultrafast Self-Assembly of Sub-10 nm Block Copolymer Nanostructures by Solvent-Free High-Temperature Laser Annealing

Laser spike annealing was applied to PS-b-PDMS diblock copolymers to induce short-time (millisecond time scale), high-temperature (300 to 700 °C) microphase segregation and directed self-assembly of sub-10 nm features. Conditions were identified that enabled uniform microphase separation in the time frame of tens of milliseconds. Microphase ordering improved with increased temperature and annealing time, whereas phase separation contrast was lost for very short annealing times at high temperature. PMMA brush underlayers aided ordering under otherwise identical laser annealing conditions. Good long-range order for sub-10 nm cylinder morphology was achieved using graphoepitaxy coupled with a 20 ms dwell laser spike anneal above 440 °C.
Comparison of crisp and fuzzy kNN in phoneme recognition

Despite the advances of information technology tools in the speech recognition task, the challenge to find a rapid and an efficient approach remains a principal research topic. In this paper, we apply the k-nearest neighbors (kNN) algorithm for Timit phoneme recognition with two models: crisp and fuzzy. Essentially, we explore the contribution of the fuzzy aspect for the crisp version of the kNN algorithm. KNN algorithm is characterized by simple implementation, efficiency and speed of execution. The recognition approach consists of extracting a mean reference vector from each phoneme signal in order to assign a crisp or a fuzzy membership degree by measuring the distance to its kNN. The average recognition rate obtained show that kNN algorithm can provide a significant way for the phoneme recognition task particularly using the fuzzy variant.
Political rents under alternative forms of judicial review

Abstract Opponents of bills that are approved in the legislature frequently pursue subsequent judicial challenges based on constitutional grounds in order to overturn them. Such challenges may occur through a specific legal case as in the U.S. (concrete judicial review) or through the petition of an opposition party at the constitutional court as in many parliamentary democracies (abstract judicial review). While the decision-making process of high court justices has been widely studied, the effect of anticipated judicial review on the composition of bills introduced in the legislature has received limited attention. This paper theoretically analyzes how the institutions of concrete and abstract judicial review influence the political rents associated with a bill when the justices decide solely based on the bill's ideological component. The results indicate that abstract review may lead in equilibrium to a greater diffusion of rents across the political spectrum through its anticipatory effect, while the rents under concrete review are more concentrated among the legislative winning coalition. When this is the case, abstract review improves the equilibrium payoff of the party that would be left out of the legislative winning coalition under concrete review and favors those parties that command large rents in the status-quo.
Editing the Genome Without Double-Stranded DNA Breaks

Genome editing methods have commonly relied on the initial introduction of double-stranded DNA breaks (DSBs), resulting in stochastic insertions, deletions, and translocations at the target genomic locus. To achieve gene correction, these methods typically require the introduction of exogenous DNA repair templates and low-efficiency homologous recombination processes. In this review, we describe alternative, mechanistically motivated strategies to perform chemistry on the genome of unmodified cells without introducing DSBs. One such strategy, base editing, uses chemical and biological insights to directly and permanently convert one target base pair to another. Despite its recent introduction, base editing has already enabled a number of new capabilities and applications in the genome editing community. We summarize these advances here and discuss the new possibilities that this method has unveiled, concluding with a brief analysis of future prospects for genome and transcriptome editing without double-st...
Large-Scale Chemical Control of Smooth Cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora) in Willapa Bay, WA: Towards Eradication and Ecological Restoration

The grass species Spartina alterniflora (smooth cordgrass) is an invasive ecosystem engineer with serious ecological consequences to intertidal mudflats and saltmarshes. The largest infestation in North America was in Willapa Bay, WA, where it occupied ∼3,600 solid ha, covering ∼27,000 ha of intertidal habitat. An extensive effort by land managers to eradicate S. alterniflora has been in place for over two decades. This article discusses (1) the success of the control and issues that will need to be resolved in order to achieve eradication; (2) post-control succession of affected tidelands to native marsh species, and (3) the impact that S. alterniflora removal has had on shorebird usage of affected tidelands. Nomenclature: Imazapyr; glyphosate; smooth cordgrass, Spartina alterniflora Loisel.
The Anatomy of a Tweet: Social Media in Surgical Practice

The use of social media by surgeons is not only encouraged, but should be seen as an obligation to patients and colleagues to help disseminate important information. In a rapidly expanding digital revolution, engagement in social media allows surgeons to network with the community and leverage content to a wide audience while owning their online presence.
Sorting camera trap images

Camera trapping is used by conservation biologists to study snow leopards. In this research, we introduce techniques that sort camera trap images into sets with snow leopards and those without. We use Robust Principal Component Analysis, thresholding, and binary morphology to create motion templates. Cascade Object Detector finds spots in the camera trap images. The number of spots that overlap with the motion template and their density are among the features input to the Support Vector Machine classifier that sorts the images. Our results are very promising: we achieve an average classification accuracy of 93.74%.
Severe Hypocalcemia and Hypomagnesemia with Denosumab in Advanced Chronic Kidney Disease: Case Report and Literature Review.

Background. Denosumab has become the preferred agent over zolendronic acid to help prevent skeletal-related events in patients with metastatic bone disease and multiple myeloma because it is approved for use in those with kidney dysfunction. However, denosumab has been linked to cases of hypocalcemia, particularly in those with advanced kidney disease. Case Presentation. We present the case of a patient with metastatic prostate cancer and chronic kidney disease due to obstructive nephropathy who developed severe hypocalcemia and hypomagnesemia after denosumab injection, which required intensive care unit admission, aggressive calcium supplementation, and hemodialysis assistance. We reviewed the evidence behind the safety profile of denosumab in chronic kidney disease, and we also looked at additional factors that may precipitate severe hypocalcemia with denosumab in advanced kidney disease. Conclusion. We believe that denosumab should be avoided in advanced chronic kidney disease due to the potential life-threatening, severe hypocalcemia that has been observed.
Comparison between clinician- and patient-reporting of baseline (BL) and post-BL symptomatic toxicities in cancer cooperative group clinical trials (NCCTG N0591 [Alliance]).

9520 Background: Reporting of clinician-based toxicity assessment via the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) commonly does not distinguish between symptoms already present at BL...