cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Experimental glomerulonephritis induced by antigen that binds to glomerular fibronectin.

In previous studies we demonstrated that antigens with the capacity to bind to the glycoprotein fibronectin (FN), localized in the glomerular mesangium after intravenous (IV) injection. In the present study we sought to determine if the localization of FN-binding antigens in the mesangium is capable of inducing gloimerulonephritis. A group of rats were injected IV with the FN-binding antigen phenylated gelatin (DNP-GL) followed 2 hours later by rabbit anti-DNP antibodies. This experimental protocol resulted in the development of a glomerulonephritis characterized by an initial heterologous phase and a late autologous phase. Both phases of the disease were characterized by significant histologic changes, including focal segmental mesangial matrix expansion, inflammatory cell infiltration, and an increase in endothelial and mesangial cells. By immunoperoxidase we demonstrated mesangial deposition of rabbit IgG and rat C3 during the initial heterologous phase and mesangial deposition of rat IgG and C3 during the autologous phase. Significant proteinuria developed during the heterologous phase, but not during the autologous phase of the disease. By contrast, rats injected with DNP-GL alone or anti-DNP antibodies alone did not develop significant histologic glomerular changes or proteinuria. In conclusion, antigens that bind to mesangial FN are capable of inducing glomerulonephritis. This mechanism of localization of antigens in the glomeruli may be relevant to human immune complex (IC)-mediated diseases involving antigens that have the capacity to bind to FN.
The Future of Hormesis: Where Do We Go from Here?

Although the occurrence of U-shaped dose responses in toxicology (i.e., hormetic effects) have been known for more than a century, the concept of hormesis has long been marginalized under the belief that such observations could be explained by a combination of poor study designs and normal variability. However, recent efforts have established that numerous highly reliable studies demonstrating hormetic effects exist and that such findings appear to be highly generalizable across species, endpoint measures, and class of agents assessed. In light of such a long and complicated history, and its significant biomedical/toxicological implications, this article explores the unique challenges that the concept of hormesis confronts in both the experimental and institutional domains with respect to assessing its scientific foundations and validity and the impediments to its intstitutional acceptance and use with society. This perspective is then immediately critiqued by five authors in subsequent articles.
The role of spatial mixing in the spread of foot-and-mouth disease.

A model of epidemic dispersal (based on the assumption that susceptible cattle were homogeneously mixed over space, or non-spatial model) was compared to a partially spatially explicit and discrete model (thespatial model),which wascomposedof differential equationsand used geo-coded data (Euclidean distances between county centroids). While the spatial model accounted for intraand inter-county epidemic spread, the non-spatial model did not assess regional differences. A geocoded dataset that resembled conditions favouring homogeneous mixing assumptions (based on the 2001 Uruguayan foot-and-mouth disease epidemic), was used for testing. Significant differences between models were observed in the average transmission rate between farms, both before and after a control policy (animal movement ban) was imposed. Theyalso differed in terms of daily number ofinfected farms: the non-spatial model revealed a single epidemic peak (at, approximately, 25 epidemic days); while the spatial model revealed two epidemic peaks (at, approximately, 12 and 28 days, respectively). While the spatial model fitted well with the observed cumulative number of infected farms, the non-spatial model did not (P <0:01). In addition, the spatial model: (a) indicated an early intra-county reproductive number R of � 87 (falling to <1 within 25 days), and an inter-county R <1; (b) predicted that, if animal movement restrictions had
Phosphorus and Potassium Distribution and Adsorption on Two Florida Sandy Soils

Phosphorus and K are critical nutrients in citrus production whose deficiency or excess can affect yield, fruit quality, and water quality. However, no study has been conducted to understand the nutrient distribution in the root zone using intensive fertigation practices in Florida’s sandy soils. Thus, experiments were conducted to: (i) compare the performance of intensively managed drip and microsprinkler fertigation systems with conventional grower practices; and (ii) determine P and K adsorption based on recommended fertilizer application rates on Candler (hyperthermic, uncoated Lamellic Quartzipsamments) and Immokalee (sandy, siliceous, hyperthermic Arenic Alaquods) fine sands. Phosphorus and K were applied and tracked with time and distance from point of application. Soil P on Immokalee soil was 27 to 163% higher in the irrigated zone for drip and restricted microsprinkler fertigation than the unirrigated zone and up to 70% greater in the 0- to 15-cm depth of the irrigated zone than conventional microsprinkler practices. Soil K was 5 to 61% greater in the upper 0- to 15-cm of the irrigated zone with drip and microsprinkler fertigation than conventional microsprinkler practices on Immokalee fine sand. Soil P and K on Candler also differed by fertilization method, depth, and between irrigated and unirrigated zones. The linearized P sorption coefficients for Candler were three- to fourfold greater than the corresponding depths for Immokalee, while sorption coefficients for K were similar for the two soils. It is unlikely that P or K would present a water quality concern as strictly related to irrigation practice. The P application rate for Candler should be lowered for young trees (<3 yr old).
Calorimetric Approaches to Characterizing Effects of Additives on Protein Crystallization

Introduction of additives to the crystallization solution can improve the quality of macromolecular crystals, presumably by enhancing crystal contacts, conformational stability, and/or solvent interactions. However, despite their widespread use, the mechanisms by which these additives exert their effects remain largely unknown. We have used differential scanning calorimetry and isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) to characterize the effects of additives on the crystallization of several proteins. We have found that the positive effects on crystallizability exerted by an additive can be correlated with stabilization of the macromolecule in solution, as evidenced by an increase in the midpoint melting transition temperature. Additionally, the additives' effect on the thermodynamic variables AH and AG, as determined by ITC, can be used to distinguish whether the additive functions by binding to the macromolecule or by altering the properties of the crystallization solution. The use of ultrasensitive instrumental methods to evaluate the potential effectiveness of additives can facilitate rapid screening of a large number of additives prior to crystallization and provide a means to rationally limit the crystallization solution search space.
Insect herbivore effects on resource allocation to shoots and roots in Lespedeza capitata

Aboveground and belowground processes in plants are intimately linked because the resources that must be divided among growth, maintenance, and development of essential structures are finite. To determine how aboveground insect herbivory affects root-system size, morphology, interactions with soil biota, and temporal patterns in the development of root systems, we grew the legume Lespedeza capitata in sunken pots in a restored prairie in south-central Kansas. The plants were manipulated in a factorial experiment that involved reduction of natural herbivory with insecticide and age of plant at harvest (2, 4, or 6 months). Herbivory reduced the aboveground sizes of plants throughout the growing season but did not affect their belowground size or root-system branching ratio. Further, the failure of aboveground insect herbivory to affect density of nitrogen-fixing nodules on L. capitata roots suggests that plants did not shift allocation of carbon to compensate for naturally occurring levels of folivory. We suggest that conservation of root-system structure or low rates of change in root-system structure in response to aboveground insect herbivory may be an adaptive strategy in environments with scarce soil resources, for example near species’ xeric range limits.
Pathobiology of Prediabetes in a Biracial Cohort (POP-ABC): Retention Strategies

The Pathobiology of Prediabetes in a Biracial Cohort (POP-ABC) study is a prospective evaluation of incident prediabetes among African American and Caucasian offspring of parents with type 2 diabetes (1). Recruitment occurred over 3.4 years, with metabolic assessments during 2.1–5.5 years of quarterly follow-up. In studies that offer lifestyle intervention or medication, the potential health benefit is a strong motivation for retention (2,3). However, there is limited information on strategies for retaining healthy subjects in long-term observational studies requiring frequent, extensive metabolic assessments. This report describes retention strategies used among the 376 subjects (217 African Americans and 159 Caucasians) enrolled in the POP-ABC study. Anticipating known retention threats (4,5), our strategies focused on participant motivation, amelioration of barriers related to clinic visit logistics, and community-building activities. All participants received clear written …
Apoptotic cells, autoantibodies, and the role of HMGB1 in the subcellular localization of an autoantigen.

Abstract A current model for the evolution of systemic lupus erythematosus hypothesizes that there is a genetic predisposition coupled with an environmental or infectious trigger. This study investigated whether apoptotic cells given with a proinflammatory signal could induce features of lupus. Balb/c mice were injected with an apoptotic Balb/c-derived myeloid cell line, J774.1, either with or without the DNA-binding protein HMGB1 for five injections over 16 days in an IACUC approved study. Mice were sacrificed at 6 weeks and 12 weeks after treatment. Renal disease was assessed by immunofluorescence and autoantibodies were defined by ELISA. Western blotting was performed to characterize autoantigens. Mice injected with apoptotic cells developed antibodies to histones, SSA, ssDNA, and phospholipids. Antibodies to SSA and ssDNA persisted; however, antibodies to histones, and phospholipid declined at 12 weeks. IgG deposits in the kidney were detected at 6 weeks and persisted through 12 weeks primarily in animals that received both apoptotic cells and HMGB1. Autoantibodies in mice were diverse but the mice that received apoptotic cells developed particularly high titer antibodies to an unknown 78 kDa protein. This protein became externalized on the surface of J774.1 cells in the presence of HMGB1. Mice that received apoptotic J774.1 cells with HMGB1 developed more extensive renal IgG deposition. While the mechanism is uncertain, an important effect of HMGB1 was to alter the subcellular distribution of a major autoantigen, making the autoantigen accessible for immune responses. This is the first description of an inflammatory stimulus altering the immunologic availability of a potential autoantigen.
Quality, efficiency, and accountability: Definitions and applications

From a practical standpoint, quality is the value that a college or university seeks through efficiency and accountability to advance its relative position in the market.
UTD-SRL: A Pipeline Architecture for Extracting Frame Semantic Structures

This paper describes our system for the task of extracting frame semantic structures in SemEval--2007. The system architecture uses two types of learning models in each part of the task: Support Vector Machines (SVM) and Maximum Entropy (ME). Designed as a pipeline of classifiers, the semantic parsing system obtained competitive precision scores on the test data.
Homeomorphisms between Homotopy Manifolds and Their Resolutions

A homotopy n-manifold without boundary is a polyhedron M (i. e., a topological space along with a family of compatible triangulations by locally finite simplicial complexes) such that, for any triangulation in the piecewise linear (p. I.) structure of M, the link of each/-simplex (0 < i < n) has the homotopy type of the sphere S"-i-1. More generally, a homotopy n-manifold is a polyhedron such that the link of each /-simplex in any triangulation is homotopically an (n i 1) sphere or ball, and in which 0M the union of all simplexes with links which are homotopically balls is itself a homotopy ( n 1)-manifold without boundary. We note that i fM is a homotopy manifold then 0M is a well-defined subpolyhedron of M. Also, the question of whether a polyhedron M is a homotopy manifold is completely determined by a single triangulation of M (by Lemma LK 5 of [8]).
A nonparametric method for detecting fixations and saccades using cluster analysis: removing the need for arbitrary thresholds

Background Eye tracking is an important component of many human and non-human primate behavioral experiments. As behavioral paradigms have become more complex, including unconstrained viewing of natural images, eye movements measured in these paradigms have become more variable and complex as well. Accordingly, the common practice of using acceleration, dispersion, or velocity thresholds to segment viewing behavior into periods of fixations and saccades may be insufficient.
Factors associated with resilience in healthy adults

Mature defenses comprise one well-validated indicator of resilience. We investigated the relationships of resilience to trauma, attachment, temperament, cortisol, and cognitive performance in adult healthy volunteers. Participants were administered the Defense Style Questionnaire; the Relationship Questionnaire; the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, and the Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire. Cortisol determinations included 24-h urinary, mean hourly plasma, response to low-dose dexamethasone suppression, and reactivity to the Trier social stress test (TSST). Mathematical performance during the TSST was quantified. Twenty-five women and 29 men participated. Resilience was significantly negatively correlated with childhood interpersonal trauma and with harm avoidance. Resilience was significantly positively correlated with urinary cortisol, secure attachment, reward dependence, and superior performance. In a linear regression analysis, the strongest predictor of resilience was childhood trauma, followed by math performance under stress and harm avoidance. We conclude that in young adults without manifest psychiatric disorder, resilience was associated with developmental, biological, and cognitive measures which merit further investigation.
Low-income depressed older adults with psychiatric comorbidity: secondary analyses of response to psychotherapy and case management.

Objective This study examined the influence of comorbid anxiety and personality disorders on depression treatment response in 67 low-income older adults. Methods Participants were randomized to clinical case management, cognitive-behavioral group therapy, or both for 6 months. Outcomes were assessed at baseline, post-treatment, and 6 and 12 months after treatment. Results Dropout and depression diagnoses were similar across groups. Participants with comorbidity had more depressive and anxiety symptoms at most time points; degree of improvement did not differ significantly. Of participants with personality disorder, none met criteria at post-treatment (three relapsed by 12-month follow-up). Conclusions Findings suggest depressed low-income elders with anxiety or personality disorders can be retained and benefit from depression treatment, but may require additional interventions to achieve similar levels of depressive symptoms. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Rapid equilibrium extraction of rice bran oil at ambient temperature

Rapid equilibrium extraction of soybean flour has been effective in obtaining an oil with reduced phospholipid content. This technique was examined to obtain a low phospholipid and low free fatty acid rice bran oil (RBO). The amount of RBO extracted with hexane from 1 g of rice bran at 22°C was measured over a 10-min period. The amount of oil extracted from variable amounts of bran with a fixed volume of solvent was also studied. Ninety percent of the oil was extracted in one minute, with 93% of the total RBO being extracted after ten minutes. This compares with the 98% yield obtained from soy flour, but increasing the amount of bran used did not reduce the extraction rate. This extraction method produced a good quality RBO with low phospholipid, low free fatty acid and low peroxide values.
Processing of functional polymers and organic thin films by the matrix-assisted pulsed laser evaporation (MAPLE) technique

Abstract The matrix-assisted pulsed laser evaporation (MAPLE) technique has been successfully used to deposit highly uniform thin films of various functional materials such as non-linear optical (NLO) organic materials, conductive polymers, luminescent organic molecules and several types of proteinaceous compounds. MAPLE is a laser evaporation technique for growing thin films of organic and polymeric materials which involves directing a pulsed laser beam (λ=193 nm ; fluence =0.01–0.5 J cm −2 ) onto a frozen target (−40 to −160 °C) consisting of a solute polymeric or organic compound dissolved in a solvent matrix. Using MAPLE, thin films of N -(4-nitrophenyl)-( l )-prolinol or NPP, an NLO material; polypyrrole, a conductive polymer; and tris-(8-hydroxyquinoline) aluminum or Alq3, a luminescent organic compound, have been separately deposited with minor (in the case of Alq3) or no degradation (for the NPP and polypyrrole) to their optical and electrical properties. The MAPLE process has also been used to deposit discrete thin film micro-arrays of biotinylated bovine serum albumin (BSA). The deposited BSA films, after washing with a blocking protein and fluorescently tagged streptavidin, fluoresce when exposed to UV. This fluorescence indicates that the biochemical specificity of the transferred biotinylated protein is unaffected by the MAPLE process. These results demonstrate that the MAPLE technique can be used for growing thin films of functional polymer and active biomaterials.
Elevated CO2 reduces leaf damage by insect herbivores in a forest community

Summary • By altering foliage quality, exposure to elevated levels of atmospheric CO 2 potentially affects the amount of herbivore damage experienced by plants. • Here, we quantified foliar carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) content, C : N ratio, phenolic levels, specific leaf area (SLA) and the amount of leaf tissue damaged by chewing insects for 12 hardwood tree species grown in plots exposed to elevated CO 2 (ambient plus 200 µl l − 1 ) using free-air CO 2 enrichment (FACE) over 3 yr. • The effects of elevated CO 2 varied considerably by year and across species. Elevated CO 2 decreased herbivore damage across 12 species in 1 yr but had no detectable effect in others. Decreased damage may have been related to lower average foliar N concentration and SLA and increased C : N ratio and phenolic content for some species under elevated compared with ambient CO 2 . It remains unclear how these changes in leaf properties affect herbivory. • Damage to the leaves of hardwood trees by herbivorous insects may be reduced in the future as the concentration of CO 2 continues to increase, perhaps altering the trophic structure of forest ecosystems.
A parallel version of Cook and Kim's algorithm for presorted lists

The Cook and Kim algorithm is a well known method for sorting presorted lists. This paper presents observations based on an implementation of the algorithm on a single processor. An extension of the algorithm to a tightly coupled multiprocessor will also be presented. The performance of the parallel version of the algorithm on presorted lists will be compared to that of a heavily used parallel sort algorithm for tightly coupled multiprocessors, Parallel Quicksort.
Age-related differences in executive function among children with spina bifida/hydrocephalus based on parent behavior ratings.

Previous research has suggested that adolescents with myelomeningocele and shunted hydrocephalus (MMH) have difficulties with aspects of executive functioning and, in turn, with functional independence. There is little research, however, examining patterns of executive functioning across adolescence in this population. The goal of this cross-sectional study was to examine parent ratings of executive function in children with MMH and in typically developing peers across late childhood and adolescence. Parents of 36 individuals with MMH and 35 typically developing peers, ages 10 to 18 years, completed the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF). The BRIEF is organized into eight scales and two primary indices—Metacognition (MCI) and Behavioral Regulation (BRI). As a whole, the children with MMH had significantly higher BRIEF T-scores, as well as a higher prevalence of clinically significant T-scores across subscales, particularly those representing cognitive control. Effects of group, age, and age-by-group interactions on the mean raw scores of the MCI and BRI were examined using regression analyses. There were significant group effects (p < .05) for both the BRI and MCI, with the controls having significantly lower mean ratings than the MMH group. There was also a significant contribution of age-by-group interaction on the BRI (p < .05). Although mean raw scores on the BRI for the MMH group remained stable across ages, mean raw scores in the control group decreased as age increased. Thus, healthy children have age-related improvements in executive control behaviors across adolescence, particularly behavioral control, while children with MMH demonstrate no age-related improvements in parent reported executive behaviors across adolescence. Therefore, children with MMH may continue to require targeted interventions and modifications to address executive dysfunction into young adulthood in order to promote functional independence.
Low coherence interferometer for sensing retardance change during neural activity

A variety of optical measurements, including retardance/birefringence change, have revealed transient optical and structural changes associated with action potential propagation. Those changes can be understood better by developing new techniques and improving the current approaches. To detect transient retardance changes in a stimulated nerve, we propose a differential phase technique utilizing two orthogonal polarization channels of a polarization-maintaining fiber based interferometer. The superior sensitivity of the system (10.4 pm) is promising to achieve a non-contact optical measurement of action potential propagation in reflection mode, and to study the transient retardance changes during neural activity.
EVIDENCE OF POSITIVE INDIRECT EFFECTS WITHIN A COMMUNITY OF CAVITY-NESTING VERTEBRATES

Abstract In a community of ≥3 competing species, one species may also have a positive indirect effect on another by suppressing a third, shared competitor. We examine the potential for similar interactions among Red-cockaded Woodpeckers (Picoides borealis) and two of its cavity kleptoparasites: southern flying squirrels (Glaucomys volans) and Red-bellied Woodpeckers (Melanerpes carolinus). We hypothesized that flying squirrels have a positive indirect effect on Red-cockaded Woodpeckers by suppressing Red-bellied Woodpeckers. We monitored occupancy of Red-cockaded Woodpecker cavities on 16 territories for one year, and then regularly removed flying squirrels from Red-cockaded Woodpecker cavities for one year on eight territories, each paired with a control. We predicted that flying squirrel removal would competitively release Red-bellied Woodpeckers, which in turn would preempt a positive occupancy response by Red-cockaded Woodpeckers. During the removal phase, flying squirrel occupancy decreased 53% on th...
Hyperspectral Analysis of Soil Nitrogen, Carbon, Carbonate, and Organic Matter Using Regression Trees

The characterization of soil attributes using hyperspectral sensors has revealed patterns in soil spectra that are known to respond to mineral composition, organic matter, soil moisture and particle size distribution. Soil samples from different soil horizons of replicated soil series from sites located within Washington and Oregon were analyzed with the FieldSpec Spectroradiometer to measure their spectral signatures across the electromagnetic range of 400 to 1,000 nm. Similarity rankings of individual soil samples reveal differences between replicate series as well as samples within the same replicate series. Using classification and regression tree statistical methods, regression trees were fitted to each spectral response using concentrations of nitrogen, carbon, carbonate and organic matter as the response variables. Statistics resulting from fitted trees were: nitrogen R2 0.91 (p < 0.01) at 403, 470, 687, and 846 nm spectral band widths, carbonate R2 0.95 (p < 0.01) at 531 and 898 nm band widths, total carbon R2 0.93 (p < 0.01) at 400, 409, 441 and 907 nm band widths, and organic matter R2 0.98 (p < 0.01) at 300, 400, 441, 832 and 907 nm band widths. Use of the 400 to 1,000 nm electromagnetic range utilizing regression trees provided a powerful, rapid and inexpensive method for assessing nitrogen, carbon, carbonate and organic matter for upper soil horizons in a nondestructive method.
Adaptive filters using modified sliding-block distributed arithmetic with offset binary coding

An efficient way for computing the response of an adaptive digital filter is to use sliding-block distributed arithmetic (SBDA). One disadvantage of distributed arithmetic is the amount of memory utilized. By encoding the memory tables in offset binary code (OBC), the size of the memory tables is reduced in half. However, the computational workload remains unchanged. By modifying the computational flow, the computational workload can be reduced by almost half at the expense of slightly more memory. This modified SBDA structure is called SBDA-OBC. It has memory requirements 25%–50% lower than SBDA depending on the size of the sub-filter. In terms of the computational workload, SBDA-OBC is most advantageous for large sub-filters and when the filter is split into few subfilters. In this case, the computational workload is reduced almost in half.
Situating emotional experience.

Psychological construction approaches to emotion suggest that emotional experience is situated and dynamic. Fear, for example, is typically studied in a physical danger context (e.g., threatening snake), but in the real world, it often occurs in social contexts, especially those involving social evaluation (e.g., public speaking). Understanding situated emotional experience is critical because adaptive responding is guided by situational context (e.g., inferring the intention of another in a social evaluation situation vs. monitoring the environment in a physical danger situation). In an fMRI study, we assessed situated emotional experience using a newly developed paradigm in which participants vividly imagine different scenarios from a first-person perspective, in this case scenarios involving either social evaluation or physical danger. We hypothesized that distributed neural patterns would underlie immersion in social evaluation and physical danger situations, with shared activity patterns across both situations in multimodal sensory regions and in circuitry involved in integrating salient sensory information, and with unique activity patterns for each situation type in coordinated large-scale networks that reflect situated responding. More specifically, we predicted that networks underlying the social inference and mentalizing involved in responding to a social threat (in regions that make up the “default mode” network) would be reliably more active during social evaluation situations. In contrast, networks underlying the visuospatial attention and action planning involved in responding to a physical threat would be reliably more active during physical danger situations. The results supported these hypotheses. In line with emerging psychological construction approaches, the findings suggest that coordinated brain networks offer a systematic way to interpret the distributed patterns that underlie the diverse situational contexts characterizing emotional life.
Effect of antennas correlation on the performance of MIMO systems in wireless sensor network

Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) has been proved to be a path breaking technique for increasing capacity and reliability of a wireless communication system and has been adopted in most emerging wireless systems. To achieve the promised gain from MIMO, the antennas at transmitter or receiver are required to be separated by a minimum distance dependent on wavelength. Owing to the large physical size of traditional copper antennas, it is not possible to integrate them on tiny sensors with the required physical separation. The diversity technique if applied in wireless sensor network has potential to improve reliability as well as reduce power consumption. However, the traditional antennas are not suitable for placement on sensor nodes. This paper presents an analysis and performance results of MIMO with correlated antennas on sensor nodes of wireless sensor network.
Large-scale cluster management at Google with Borg

Google's Borg system is a cluster manager that runs hundreds of thousands of jobs, from many thousands of different applications, across a number of clusters each with up to tens of thousands of machines. It achieves high utilization by combining admission control, efficient task-packing, over-commitment, and machine sharing with process-level performance isolation. It supports high-availability applications with runtime features that minimize fault-recovery time, and scheduling policies that reduce the probability of correlated failures. Borg simplifies life for its users by offering a declarative job specification language, name service integration, real-time job monitoring, and tools to analyze and simulate system behavior. We present a summary of the Borg system architecture and features, important design decisions, a quantitative analysis of some of its policy decisions, and a qualitative examination of lessons learned from a decade of operational experience with it.
REITs and Their Management: An Analysis of Organizational Structure, Performance and Management Compensation

This study examines possible agency problems in Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) by contrasting the performance, structure and compensation of the two REIT forms from 1987 through 1992. Result...
Efficient matching and clustering of video shots

Browsing, search and retrieval in digital video libraries depend on the ability of the system to match, classify and group video shots by their visual contents. However, similarity of shots cannot always be settled by using only one key frame per shot as commonly practiced. In this paper we propose a scheme to match video shots and to cluster them by taking into account the temporal variations within individual shots. A much reduced representation for a video shot is used. These images still capture the dynamics of visual contents for matching and clustering process. Experimental results are reported.
Magnetic field effects on the ablation phase of wire array Z-pinches, as observed with end-on imaging

Magnetic field measurements inside wire-array Z-pinches have shown significant field penetration during the ablation phase, as wire material streams toward the axis producing the mass distribution that ultimately determines the implosion characteristics. End-on imaging is especially useful for observing the dynamical effects of the magnetic field on the ablation streams. Quantitative end-on imaging with X-pinches has been successfully developed on Cornell's COBRA accelerator by Isaac Blesener. These images show both the radial distribution of mass in the ablation streams and the transverse (azimuthal) structure of the streams, which tend to be focused into narrow sheets of plasma from the individual wires that merge into a quasi-axisymmetric distribution only quite near the axis.
The Heartland Conservation Process: enhancing biodiversity conservation and livelihoods through landscape-scale conservation planning in Africa

The African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) has developed and applied a landscape-scale conservation planning methodology in eight priority conservation landscapes in Africa, areas we call African Heartlands. The foundation of the African Heartland Program is a landscape-scale planning process that has been developed and applied as part of the overall Heartland Conservation Process. This process helps AWF and its partners develop intervention strategies that address critical threats to the ecological viability of these landscapes, and to specific biodiversity conservation targets, whilst also working to improve the livelihoods of local people. In applying this participatory planning process to eight conservation landscapes in Africa we have begun to document and learn about the benefits and limitations of planning and implementation at the landscape-scale with stakeholders. We draw out lessons on the challenges and successes from our experience. Central to this are the merits of balancing a systematic science-based and pragmatic approach to landscape-scale conservation planning while addressing the needs and aspirations of local people. This approach could be particularly useful for other large-scale conservation planning efforts in developing countries where conservation objectives and human livelihoods are inextricably linked.
Breast-cancer stem cells—beyond semantics

Intratumoral heterogeneity in breast cancer is well documented. Although the mechanisms leading to this heterogeneity are not understood, a subpopulation of cancer cells, cancer stem cells (CSCs), that have some phenotypic similarities with adult tissue stem cells, has been suggested to contribute to tumour heterogeneity. It has been postulated that these CSCs are dormant, and by virtue of their low proliferative activity and ability to exclude intracellular toxins, are resistant to chemotherapy and radiation therapy. These cells were initially isolated based on the presence of markers such as CD44, CD24, and ALDH1, with further characterisation using mammosphere assay and transplantation into immunodeficient mice. The CSC hypothesis raises several theoretical and practical questions. Does cancer arise in normal mammary stem cells or do some malignant cells acquire a CSC phenotype through clonal evolution? Are CSCs in different molecular (intrinsic) subtypes of breast cancer similar, or do they have distinct properties based on the subtype? Does the CSC phenotype reflect plasticity or the dynamic nature of a few cancer cells? How do these cells acquire invasive behaviour, as they go through epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition and then revert to epithelial phenotype at sites of metastasis in response to tumour microenvironmental and metastasis site-specific cues? It is increasingly recognised that the methods and assays used for identifying CSCs have substantial limitations; does this negate the entire concept? In this Personal View, we argue that the CSC phenotype represents an aggressive clone that survives in an adverse environment through constant evolution and integration of various hallmarks of cancer. This evolution could involve acquiring mutations that permit asymmetric and symmetric division, converting the host immune attack to its own advantage, and plasticity to adapt to sites of metastasis through reversible change in adhesion molecules. We also argue that the cell-type origin of cancer could affect the rate at which CSCs develop in a tumour, with an eventual effect on disease outcome.
Learning Many Related Tasks at the Same Time with Backpropagation

Hinton [6] proposed that generalization in artificial neural nets should improve if nets learn to represent the domain's underlying regularities. Abu-Mustafa's hints work [1] shows that the outputs of a backprop net can be used as inputs through which domain-specific information can be given to the net. We extend these ideas by showing that a backprop net learning many related tasks at the same time can use these tasks as inductive bias for each other and thus learn better. We identify five mechanisms by which multitask backprop improves generalization and give empirical evidence that multitask backprop generalizes better in real domains.
Mapping rule and subversion: Perspective and the democratic turn in Machiavelli scholarship

This paper engages the debate within the ‘democratic turn’ in Machiavelli scholarship, where an ‘institutional’ approach has celebrated Machiavelli's theorisation of the institutions under which the people can rule while a ‘no-rule’ approach has traced Machiavelli's attention to the popular capacity to subvert all relations of rule. What do we make of Machiavelli's concurrent reception as a champion of popular rule and an antagonist to all rule? I argue that both institutionalising and subversive impulses appear simultaneously in Machiavelli's works, though in a dynamic for which neither of the democratic approaches adequately accounts – namely, a rhetorical dimension of Machiavelli's works wherein political knowledge unfolds from a continuous multiplicity of perspectives and the ensuing implication that perspective is crafted and shaped through political action. Perspectival readings of Machiavelli's accounts of the Capuan debate and the Ciompi rebellion thus reveal that both democratic approaches have n...
A NEW SPECIES OF SMALL MONTANE FOREST FLOOR SKINK (GENUS SPHENOMORPHUS FITZINGER 1843) FROM SOUTHERN PENINSULAR MALAYSIA

A new species of small, montane, forest floor Sphenomorphus is described from Fraser's Hill, peninsular Malaysia on the basis of a unique suite of character states that differentiates it from all other 32 Sunda Shelf species of Sphenomorphus. The new species may be allied to the other montane West Malaysian species S. ishaki from Pulau Tioman and S. butleri from Bukit Larut. The discovery of S. bukitensis underscores the unrealized biodiversity in the mountainous regions of peninsular Malaysia.
Aid is Not Oil: Donor Utility, Heterogeneous Aid, and the Aid-Democratization Relationship

Recent articles conclude that foreign aid, like other nontax resources, inhibits political change in authoritarian regimes. This article challenges both the negative political effects of aid and the similarity of aid to other resources. It develops a model incorporating changing donor preferences and the heterogeneity of foreign aid. Consistent with the model's predictions, an empirical test for the period 1973–2010 shows that, on average, the negative relationship between aid and the likelihood of democratic change is confined to the Cold War period. However, in the post–Cold War period, nondemocratic recipients of particular strategic importance can still use aid to thwart change. The relationship between oil revenue and democratic change does not follow the same pattern over time or across recipients. This supports the conclusion that aid has different properties than other, fungible, resources.
A Pilot Study of the Particle Size Distribution of Dust in the Paper and Wood Products Industry

A particle size distribution study assessed the potential effectiveness of dust/mist (DM) disposable respirators widely used in the paper and wood products industry. Because the particle size distribution of dust in U.S. industry is not well classified, the most recent American National Standards Institute standard for respiratory protection requires the use of a high-efficiency particulate air filter unless the particle size distribution of the dust is known or can be estimated. To establish industry-specific data, personal samples were collected using an eight–stage cascade impactor for various operations in which workers use disposable DM respirators for protection against wood, paper, corn starch, and lime (CaO) dusts, and waste fuel incinerator ash (bark, saw dust, and fiber sludge). Results show that workers in the paper and wood products industry can be exposed to dust composed of up to 75% by weight of particles less than 2 microns aerodynamic diameter as measured by a personal cascade impactor. R...
Physical factors affecting the detection of calcifications in digital mammography

We are conducting a perception study to investigate the effects of detector design, magnification, and calcification size on the detection of calcifications in uniform as well as structured background. Calcium carbonate grains of various sizes were used to simulate calcifications. Three detectors were studied: a 100 µm aSi:H/CsI(Tl) flat-panel system, a 30 µm CCD based system and an analog screen/film combination. The preliminary results show that the flat-panel system with a 100 µm pixel size outperformed a CCD based system with a 30 µm pixel size and an analog screen-film system. However, in studies with an anthropomorphic phantom as the background, the flat-panel system was outperformed by the other two systems. The presence of tissue structure background substantially reduced the calcification detectability. The use of geometric magnification generally improved the detectability with the exception of smallest and largest calcifications.
A Review of “Taking Sustainable Cities Seriously: Economic Development, the Environment, and Quality of Life in American Cities”

In the second edition of Taking Sustainable Cities Seriously, Kent E. Portney provides an update to his 2003 book on sustainable cities. As the concept of sustainability has matured, pursuing susta...
The antagonism of ghrelin alters the appetitive response to learned cues associated with food

The rapid increase in obesity may be partly mediated by an increase in the exposure to cues for food. Food-paired cues play a role in food procurement and intake under conditions of satiety. The mechanism by which this occurs requires characterization, but may involve ghrelin. This orexigenic peptide alters the response to food-paired conditioned stimuli, and neural responses to food images in reward nuclei. Therefore, we tested whether a ghrelin receptor antagonist alters the influence of food-paired cues on the performance of instrumental responses that earn food and the consumption of food itself using tests of Pavlovian-to-instrumental transfer (PIT) and cue potentiated feeding (CPF), respectively. Food-deprived rats received Pavlovian conditioning where an auditory cue was paired with delivery of sucrose solution followed by instrumental conditioning to lever press for sucrose. Following training, rats were given ad libitum access to chow. On test day, rats were injected with the ghrelin receptor antagonist GHRP-6 [D-Lys3] and then tested for PIT or CPF. Disrupting ghrelin signaling enhanced expression of PIT. In addition, GHRP-6 [D-Lys3] impaired the initiation of feeding behavior in CPF without influencing overall intake of sucrose. Finally, in PIT tested rats, enhanced FOS immunoreactivity was revealed following the antagonist in regions thought to underlie PIT; however, the antagonist had no effect on FOS immunoreactivity in CPF tested rats.
Evaluation of progestogens for postoperative adhesion prevention

Progesterone (P) has been shown to have potent antiinflammatory and immunosuppressive properties. Previous reports have suggested that the use of P decreases postoperative adhesion formation. To further evaluate the role of pharmacologic doses of progestogens in adhesion prevention, 42 mature New Zealand White rabbits underwent standardized injuries to the uterine horns, fimbriae, and pelvic peritoneum and received one of six treatments. Group S had intraperitoneal placement of normal saline (0.9%); group H received intraperitoneal placement of 32% dextran 70; group IM-P received intramuscular P-in-oil 10days before and after laparotomy in addition to intraperitoneal saline; group IP-P had intraperitoneal placement of an aqueous P suspension; group DP received medroxyprogesterone acetate intraperitoneally; and group C received no intramuscular or intraperitoneal adhesion-prevention agents. The animals were sacrificed 6weeks after laparotomy, and the adhesions were scored. Intraperitoneal saline (group S) significantly reduced the amount of adhesions when compared with the control group (C) ( P P
Treatment of pilonidal disease with laser epilation

Pilonidal disease is a debilitating, chronic disease of the natal cleft. It mainly involves the sacrococcygeal region and the presentation varies from asymptomatic pits to painful draining abscesses. Treatment options vary from observation to wide excision. Unfortunately, surgical treatment often results in recurrence. The etiologic agent remains in question, as does the optimal treatment. Our objective was to assess the efficacy of laser epilation as an adjunctive therapy to surgical excision of the pilonidal sinus. Eighteen men and five women were treated with laser epilation in our office from 2001 to 2004. All patients had experienced recurrent folliculitis and had undergone some form of drainage procedure or prior excision. After surgical excision of the affected area, a Vasculite Plus laser was used for the epilation treatments. Each session involved 9 to 12 treatments and the patients underwent an average of two sessions. All 19 of the patients that remain in follow-up report no recurrence of their folliculitis or need for further surgical procedures. During treatment, six of the men and one of the women experienced a superficial wound dehiscence. All healed with local wound care and continued laser treatments. Laser epilation is an effective adjunctive therapy for the treatment of pilonidal disease. Although not curative in and of itself, the removal of hair allows better healing and decreases the chance of recurrence by removal of a significant etiology of pilonidal disease.
Witt Vectors and a Question of Rudnick and Waxman

This is Part III of the paper “Witt vectors and a question of Keating and Rudnick” [Ka-WVQKR]. We prove equidistribution results for the L-functions attached to “super-even” characters of the group of truncated “big” Witt vectors, and for the L-functions attached to the twists of these characters by the quadratic character.
Comparison of three tonometers for measuring intraocular pressure in rabbits

Purpose. Rabbits are used commonly for the evaluation of drugs and surgery to lower intraocular pressure (IOP). The authors compared the accuracy and variability of three tonometers for measuring IOP in rabbits. Methods. The anterior chamber of adult rabbits was cannulated with a 25-gauge needle connected to an elevated bottle of balanced salt solution. The bottle was raised and lowered to control IOP. A fluid-filled pressure transducer also was placed in the anterior chamber. Intraocular pressure was decreased in increments of 5 to 10 cm H 2 O from 50 to 0 mm Hg and was recorded with each of these instruments : the hand-held applanation tonometer, the Tono-pen XL, and the pneumatonometer. Results. The Tono-pen XL and the hand-held applanation tonometer underestimated the IOP, whereas the pneumatonometer slightly overestimated IOP. Under closed stopcock conditions, at IOPs between 3 and 30 mm Hg, the Tono-pen XL was as accurate as the pneumatonometer but had a smaller variance ; the hand-held applanation tonometer had lower accuracy and higher variability. Conclusions. The Tono-pen XL is the tonometer of choice for measuring IOP in rabbits within the range of IOP 3 to 30 mm Hg. All tonometers were less accurate when the IOP was elevated markedly.