cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Extending application of spectral object signature transforms: background candidate assessment

Previous studies introduced, examined, and tested a variety of registration-free transforms, specifically the diagonal, whitening/dewhitening, and target CV (Covariance) transforms. These transforms temporally evolve spectral object signatures under varying conditions using imagery of regions of similar objects and content distribution from data sets collected at two different times. The transformed object signature is then inserted into the matched filter to search for targets. Spatial registration of two areas and/or finding two suitable candidate regions for the transforms is often problematic. This study examines and finds that the average correlation coefficient between the corrected histograms of the multi-spectral image cube collected at two times can assess the similarity of the areas and predict object detection performance. This metric is applied in four distinctive situations and tested on three independently collected data sets. In one data set, the correlation between histograms was taken from an airborne long wave infrared sensor that imaged objects in Florida and tested on registered images modified by systematically eliminating opposed ends of the image set. The other data set examined images of objects in Yellowstone National Park from a visible/near IR multi-spectral sensor. This comparison was also applied to images collected using oblique angles (depression angle of 10°) of objects placed at Webster Field in Maryland. Candidate heterogeneous image areas were compared to each other using the average correlation coefficient and inserted into statistical transforms. In addition the correlations were computed between corrected histograms based on the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). Similarly, the analysis is applied to data collected at oblique angles (10° depression angle). The net signal to clutter ratio depends on the average correlation coefficient and has low p-values (p<0.05). All statistical transforms (diagonal, whitening/dewhitening, target CV) performed comparably using the various backgrounds and scenarios. Objects that are spectrally distinct from the backgrounds followed the average correlation coefficient more closely than objects whose spectral signatures contained background components. This study is the first to examine the similarity of the corrected histograms and does not exclude other approaches for comparing areas.
Environmental Influences on Monthly Variation in Milk Constituents

Abstract Least-squares techniques were used to estimate the effects of age of cow, stage of lactation, month of year, and the two-factor interactions of age with stage and month with stage, on milk and its constituents. The analyses were done within breeds, and herd effects were absorbed. There were 303,193 monthly observations from 26,414 cows of six breeds. All cows were enrolled in Dairy Herd Improvement Associations in their respective states. The traits considered were the test day production of milk, milk fat, solids-not-fat (SNF), total solids (TS), and the percentage composition of the three constituents. SNF percentage was determined by the Golding plastic bead procedure. The reduction due to fitting the set of constants for each main effect and each of the interactions was large and gave a highly significant (P
A representation and classification scheme for tree-like structures in medical images : An application on branching pattern analysis of ductal trees in x-ray galactograms

We propose a multi-step approach for representing and classifying tree-like structures in medical images. Examples of such tree-like structures are encountered in the bronchial system, the vessel topology and the breast ductal network. We assume that the tree-like structures are already segmented. To avoid the tree isomorphism problem we obtain the breadth-first canonical form of a tree. Our approach is based on employing tree encoding techniques, such as the depth-first string encoding and the Prufer encoding, to obtain a symbolic representation. Thus, the problem of classifying trees is reduced to string classification where node labels are the string terms. We employ the tf-idf text mining technique to assign a weight of significance to each string term (i.e., tree node label). We perform similarity searches and k-nearest neighbor classification of the trees using the tf-idf weight vectors and the cosine similarity metric. We applied our approach to the breast ductal network manually extracted from clinical x-ray galactograms. The goal was to characterize the ductal tree-like parenchymal structures in order to distinguish among different groups of women. Our best classification accuracy reached up to 90% for certain experimental settings (k=4), outperforming on the average by 10% that of a previous state-of-the-art method based on ramification matrices. These results illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach in analyzing tree-like patterns in breast images. Developing such automated tools for the analysis of tree-like structures in medical images can potentially provide insight to the relationship between the topology of branching and function or pathology.
Photopolymerization of gold nanoparticles: size-related charge separation and emission.

Nanoparticles in the diameter range of 1−10 nm have very unique properties compared to those of bulk metals and molecular compounds. Particle size and shape, interparticle distance, and the nature of organic shell have significant effects on their properties. Though much work on metal nanoparticles has been reported in recent years, little has dealt with direct detection of particle size effects on reaction processes. In fact, this is because the synthesis of nanoparticles in the desired two- or three-dimensional structures remains a challenge. We report the photopolymerization of bithiophene (BT)-functionalized gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) of different diameters (2, 4, and 6 nm). Photoinduced charge separation involving the BT ligand and the Au was directly detected using femtosecond transient absorption measurements. The charge separation rate constants, 4.35 ± 0.17 × 1012, 1.27 ± 0.07 × 1012, and 6.99 ± 0.16 × 1011 s-1 for 2, 4, and 6 nm AuNPs, respectively, decrease with increasing NP size. Also, emissi...
SU-E-T-56: A New Method for EPID-Based Winston-Lutz Tset Based on the Circular Hough Transform

Purpose: In this study we proposed an application of the Hough algorithm for an EPID‐based Winston‐Lutz (WL) test. Methods: The WL test was performed by using an amorphous silicon (a‐Si) electronic portal imaging device(EPID) of Novalis Tx at 6 MV beam energy. The images from the EPID were stored in DICOM format. Due to the low gradient of pixel intensity of the obtained images, a Contrast‐Limited Adaptive Histogram Equalization (CLAHE) was applied to enhance their contrast. The second step was the application of a circular Hough transform to the EPIDimages to calculate the centers of the cone and the ball. The calculation of the two centers was done separately by applying twice the Hough transformation with two different radii ranges [rmin, rmax]. Finally, given the resolution of the image in 0.39 mm/pixel, the calculated distance in pixels was transformed to a physical distance in mm at the isocenter. For evaluating the accuracy of our method we repeated the WL with GAFCHROMIC EBT2 film which was further processed with the RIT 113 software. Results: A good agreement between our method and the film‐based method was achieved. Particularly an average discrepancy of 0.06 mm was obtained compared to the results of the RIT 113. Conclusions: An EPID‐based Winston‐Lutz test has been developed by applying a circular Hough transform. The accuracy of our method compared to the film‐based method was demonstrated. The setup and implementation were faster and the acquisition of the data was easier than the traditional film‐based method.
Enzymatic hydrolysis of corn starch after extraction of corn oil with ethanol

Simultaneous corn oil extraction and alcohol dehydration, a solvent corn-milling process developed in our laboratory, was tested on a pilot scale to recover corn oil. Over 92% of the corn oil was extracted by 95% ethanol with a liquid-to-solid ratio of 0.75 at 65°C. Following the oil extraction, 95% of zein fraction was also extracted from the defatted ground corn by 65% ethanol at 65°C with a liquid-to-solid ratio of 1.0 to produce extracted ground corn. After corn oil and zein extraction by ethanol, the ability of the amylases to hydrolyze the starch fraction in extracted ground corn was studied. Results showed the starch fraction can be hydrolyzed to glucose by α-amylase and glucoamylase without separatio of fiber and residual protein. The glucose yield in hydrolysis was a function of temperature, enzyme concentration, and solid-to-liquid ratio. With a two-step heating hydrolysis, corn starch was converted to glucose with a 97.2% yield from extracted ground corn. After filtration and washing of the hydrolyzed mass, the final glucose concentration was 24.3% glucose (w/v).
Non-coding RNA prediction and verification in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Non-coding RNA (ncRNA) play an important and varied role in cellular function. A significant amount of research has been devoted to computational prediction of these genes from genomic sequence, but the ability to do so has remained elusive due to a lack of apparent genomic features. In this work, thermodynamic stability of ncRNA structural elements, as summarized in a Z-score, is used to predict ncRNA in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. This analysis was coupled with comparative genomics to search for ncRNA genes on chromosome six of S. cerevisiae and S. bayanus. Sets of positive and negative control genes were evaluated to determine the efficacy of thermodynamic stability for discriminating ncRNA from background sequence. The effect of window sizes and step sizes on the sensitivity of ncRNA identification was also explored. Non-coding RNA gene candidates, common to both S. cerevisiae and S. bayanus, were verified using northern blot analysis, rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE), and publicly available cDNA library data. Four ncRNA transcripts are well supported by experimental data (RUF10, RUF11, RUF12, RUF13), while one additional putative ncRNA transcript is well supported but the data are not entirely conclusive. Six candidates appear to be structural elements in 5′ or 3′ untranslated regions of annotated protein-coding genes. This work shows that thermodynamic stability, coupled with comparative genomics, can be used to predict ncRNA with significant structural elements.
Electrical Resistivity of Nickel Near the Curie Point

Emphasis is placed on the temperature dependence of the magnetic resistance ${R}_{\mathrm{mag}}$ in the region ${10}^{\ensuremath{-}4}\ensuremath{\lesssim}|\ensuremath{\epsilon}|\ensuremath{\lesssim}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}2}$, where $\ensuremath{\epsilon}=\frac{(T\ensuremath{-}{T}_{c})}{{T}_{c}}$. The temperature dependence of $\frac{d{R}_{\mathrm{mag}}}{\mathrm{dT}}$ is found to be the same, within experimental error, as that of the specific heat, both above and below ${T}_{c}$. The anomalous behavior in the region $0\ensuremath{\lesssim}\ensuremath{\epsilon}\ensuremath{\lesssim}5\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}3}$ reported by Craig, Goldburg, Kitchens, and Budnick is not observed.
Evolution of the Rayleigh–Taylor instability driven by a magnetic field gradient

It is shown here that the Rayleigh–Taylor instability in a device like a theta pinch has two different stages. The first stage is during the implosion phase of the theta pinch, and the second stage initiates after the formation of the plasma column. Termination of the first stage and evolution of the second stage from growth to a highly nonlinear stage and eventual wave breaking is presented by holographic interferometry. Though the instability in the first stage has been investigated before, here by employing microscopic theory it is shown that the magnetic field gradient is the driving mechanism of the instability in the latter stage.
Speakers and the Spotlight: Explaining Media Coverage of Leadership in the House of Representatives

Previous scholarship has described how members of Congress struggle to attract media attention. The Speaker of the House, however, is uniquely positioned to drive media agendas. That position may be conditioned though by the framework in which the Speaker operates, shocks to the system of leadership in the House, and the process of legislating. We inquire into the conditions under which the Speaker of the House receives increased or decreased attention from newspapers, network newscasts, and cable newscasts. We also examine the contraction and expansion of the gap between levels of presidential and Speaker coverage. We find that Speaker coverage is often shaped by increases in House polarization, changes in which party holds the position, Speaker scandal, and turning bills into laws.
Coordination mechanisms in the development of complementary technologies

It is often the case that the introduction of new products and services requires the development of several distinct complementary technologies. These technologies may be independently developed by different firms. Each firm may possess a technology that has a much greater value when combined with those of the other firms to form a complementary system. The success of such a system hinges to a large extent on the ability of the firms to coordinate their innovation activities. In this paper, we build a simple model to illustrate the incentive coordination issue. We show that independent firms make less effort than an integrated firm. We use case examples to discuss how Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A), equity investments and cross-licensing serve as mechanisms to align incentives. M&A yield optimum effort levels and are often observed. Cross-equity investments tend to encourage greater effort than independent firms. Cross-licensing can be used to alleviate legal concerns when firms develop patentable complementary technologies.
P-orderings: a metric viewpoint and the non-existence of simultaneous orderings

Abstract For a prime ideal ℘ and a subset S of a Dedekind ring R, a ℘ -ordering of S is a sequence of elements of S with a certain minimizing property. These ℘ -orderings were introduced in Bhargava (J. Reine Angew. Math., 490 (1997) 101) to generalize the usual factorial function and many classical results were thereby extended, including results about integer-valued polynomials. We consider ℘ -orderings from the viewpoint of the ℘ -adic metric on R. We find that the ℘ -sequences of S depend only on the closure of S in R ℘ . When R is a Dedekind domain and R′ is the integral closure of R in a finite extension of the fraction field of R, we relate the ℘ -sequences of R and R′. Lastly, we investigate orderings that are simultaneously ℘ -orderings for all prime ideals ℘⊂R , and show that such simultaneous orderings do not exist for imaginary quadratic number rings.
It's All Coming Back to Me Now: Perception and Memory in Amnesia

Medial temporal lobe (MTL) structures may constitute a representational hierarchy, rather than a dedicated system for memory. Barense et al. (2012) show that intact memory for object features can interfere with perception of complex objects in individuals with MTL amnesia.
Scar carcinoma of the lung. Fact or fantasy

Abstract Previous reports on lung surgery have considered scar carcinoma of the lung as a separate clinical entity associated with a fairly favorable prognosis. The clinical and morphological characteristics of peripheral adenocarcinoma or adenosquamous cell carcinoma in 75 patients and of scar carcinoma in 19 individuals were compared. Location of the lesions, sex distribution, patient age, and tumor size were similar for both groups. Although the extent of vascular invasion was also similar, lymph node involvement was greater in the group with scar carcinoma. Five-year survival was far less in the scar carcinoma group (5%) than in the adenocarcinoma (22%) or adenosquamous cell carcinoma (28%) groups. The characteristics of scar carcinoma of the lung appear to be no different than those of similar cell types without scarring.
Optimizing the choice of an image-interpolating function

Noise exists in every practical signal, but it is seldom taken into consideration when one studies or performs interpolation. In this paper, we investigate the effect of noise on the performance of an interpolating function. Using this study, we propose a distortion measure that can be used as a basis for selecting an interpolating function for a practical signal. Attention is given to both uncorrelated noise and CT (computed tomography) noise. We have developed an algorithm to estimate this measure from representative images, and use both simulated and real CT images to show that selection of the interpolating function based on this distortion measure leads to a more accurate and efficient interpolation.
Differences in the birth-cohort patterns of gastric cancer and peptic ulcer.

Aim The aim of this epidemiological study was to follow the time trends of mortality from gastric cancer and compare them with those of gastric and duodenal ulcer. Methods Mortality data from Denmark, England & Wales, Italy, Japan, Switzerland and the United States of the past 57–130 years were analysed. The age-specific death rates were plotted against the period of death as period-age contours and against the period of birth as cohort-age contours. Results The long-term time trends of gastric cancer mortality were found to rise among generations born during the 18th century until the first half of the 19th century and then decline in all subsequent generations. The rise and fall of gastric cancer preceded similar birth-cohort patterns of gastric and duodenal ulcer by about 10–30 years. With the exception of gastric cancer in the USA, similar birth-cohort phenomena were seen in all countries. In general, similar temporal patterns were also seen in men and women analysed separately. Conclusions The time trends of mortality from gastric cancer are shaped by an underlying birth-cohort pattern that resembles similar patterns of peptic ulcer mortality. The occurrence of birth-cohort phenomena in gastric cancer and peptic ulcer suggests that additional secular trends besides changes in the infection with Helicobacter pylori must have contributed to the peculiar long-term behaviour of these diagnoses.
Trichotillomania associated with dementia: a case report

Trichotillomania represents a syndrome of hair pulling in which patients compulsively and ritualistically pluck their hair in response to a sense of tension or urgency. This report documents a case of hair pulling associated with dementia. Neuropsychological testing demonstrated the deficits to be localized predominantly to the frontal lobe dysfunction.
Attenuation of Histamine-Induced Endothelial Permeability Responses after Pacing-Induced Heart Failure: Role for Endogenous Catecholamines

Objective:After congestive heart failure (CHF), lung endothelial permeability responses to a number of perturbations, including acute barotrauma, angiotensin II, and thapsigargin are blunted. Our hypothesis was that similar attenuation of permeability responses occurs in peripheral vascular beds after CHF. We compared peripheral microvascular permeability responses to the autacoid histamine in control dogs and in dogs paced to heart failure (245 bpm for ∼36 days). Since catecholamines attenuate autacoid-induced increases in microvascular permeability in skin and muscle in normal animals, we also tested whether the known elevation in catecholamines in CHF was involved in any downregulation of permeability responses in this group. Methods:Control and paced dogs were anesthetized, intubated, and ventilated, and a hindpaw lymphatic cannulated. The reflection coefficient for total proteins (σ) was measured at baseline and during one-hour, local intra-arterial histamine infusion. Results:In controls, σ fell fro...
Task-related EEG asymmetries: a comparison of alpha blocking and beta enhancement.

Alpha and beta content of spectrally analyzed EEG were used to assess differential hemispheric engagement during two linguistic tasks (semantic and phonetic) and one acoustic task involving detection of target items embeddded within the same stimulus series. Beta content of the EEG increased reliably in the left hemisphere during the linguistic tasks, whereas the expected attenuation or blocking of alpha did not occur reliably. These data suggest that left hemisphere beta enhancement rather than alpha blocking is a more efficient index of differential hemispheric engagement during language processing.
A surgical risk reduction approach to reduce global process safety risk: The “PSM gamma-knife”

Businesses with more than one site strive to minimize operational variability across their entire organization. However, uniformly implementing company-wide standards is difficult because each site maintains its own personality—its own culture. When a business strives to reduce its global process safety risk, a significant incident that exposes a particular site's weakness may result in a simple corporate decision forcing all sites to implement the same process safety improvement. This article shares the basic concept and the novel use of a risk minimization tool, commonly used to reduce financial risks in an investment portfolio, to help decision-makers minimize their multisite, global process safety risk without adding undue stress on the rest of the organization. This approach helps quantify each individual site's process safety risks into a global business process safety risk model, uses a Monte Carlo simulation to determine which site-specific factors contribute the most to the overall business risk, and then helps decision-makers prioritize and choose site-specific risk reduction efforts that minimizes the global risk. The global process safety risk reduction model used to show how to use this approach is based on a simplified risk equation containing site-specific terms for frequency, consequence and operational discipline. Often the most contentious term in risk estimating is the frequency, especially with significant scenarios that have never happened before and, hence, have a very low likelihood. The beauty of the Monte Carlo simulation is that the user can account for the uncertainty in the frequency by choosing a frequency probability function based on a range of possible best- to worst-case consequence scenarios. From the surgical perspective, a person (the whole organization) with cancer is often adversely affected when treated with chemotherapy. The results from this approach, using the image of a “PSM Gamma Knife,” show how selective site-specific risk reduction treatments specifically address each site's process safety risk to help reduce the overall risk without adversely affecting the health of the whole organization. © 2012 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Process Saf Prog, 2012
Experience with Home Oxygen in the Management of Infants with Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia

We followed the clinical course of 23 infants with bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) on home oxygen therapy during the first year of life in order to monitor patterns of growth, need for hospital readmission, and improvement in oxygenation. Oxygenation was assessed by serial, resting, awake, and room air transcutaneous PO2 (tcPO2) measurements at clinic visits. Weight gain was poor, with boys growing below the fifth percentile and girls growing at the tenth percentile. Ten of the 23 infants (43%) required rehospitalizations. There were no deaths. Fourteen of the 23 infants (61%) were taken off supplemental oxygen by 12 months corrected age, at a mean age of 7.9 months. Mean rate of improvement in tcPO2 was 3 torr/month, but wide individual variation was found. Infants off of oxygen treatment at 12 months corrected age grew at a significantly greater rate than those still requiring oxygen supplementation (p < 0.02). Infants with right ventricular hypertrophy (RVH) by electrocardiogram tended to resolve thei...
Estimation of elastic coefficients for a two beam structure

Consideration is given to the estimation of spatially dependent elastic parameters in a static distributed model of a simple structure composed of two beams at right angles. The potential energy functional of the system is formulated, and the existence of optimal estimators is proved for a regularized-output least-squares estimation problem. Regularity and approximation are discussed as well. The augmented Lagrange approach is used to incorporate the boundary conditions in a numerical algorithm. >
Investigation of Resiliency of Carbon Nanotubes and Gallium Nitride Nanocircuits to Simulated Space Radiation

Heavy ion irradiations of single and multi walled carbon nanotubes and total ionization dose of gallium nitride nanowires were investigated. Post irradiation analyses of samples were performed with transmission and scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy and micro Raman spectroscopy.
Oculomotor capture by abrupt onsets reveals concurrent programming of voluntary and involuntary saccades

In several recent experiments we have found that the eyes are often captured by the appearance of a sudden onset in a display, even though subjects intend to move their eyes elsewhere. Very brief fixations are made on the abrupt onset before the eyes complete their intended movement to the previously defined target. These results indicate concurrent programming of a voluntary saccade to the defined saccade target and an involuntary saccade to the sudden onset. This is inconsistent with the idea that a single salience map determines the location of a saccade in a winner-take-all fashion. Other results indicate that subjects attend to more than one location in a display during saccade preparation, contrary to the claim that covert attentional scanning plays no role in saccade generation.
The motivation and pleasure dimension of negative symptoms: Neural substrates and behavioral outputs

A range of emotional and motivation impairments have long been clinically documented in people with schizophrenia, and there has been a resurgence of interest in understanding the psychological and neural mechanisms of the so-called “negative symptoms” in schizophrenia, given their lack of treatment responsiveness and their role in constraining function and life satisfaction in this illness. Negative symptoms comprise two domains, with the first covering diminished motivation and pleasure across a range of life domains and the second covering diminished verbal and non-verbal expression and communicative output. In this review, we focus on four aspects of the motivation/pleasure domain, providing a brief review of the behavioral and neural underpinnings of this domain. First, we cover liking or in-the-moment pleasure: immediate responses to pleasurable stimuli. Second, we cover anticipatory pleasure or wanting, which involves prediction of a forthcoming enjoyable outcome (reward) and feeling pleasure in anticipation of that outcome. Third, we address motivation, which comprises effort computation, which involves figuring out how much effort is needed to achieve a desired outcome, planning, and behavioral response. Finally, we cover the maintenance emotional states and behavioral responses. Throughout, we consider the behavioral manifestations and brain representations of these four aspects of motivation/pleasure deficits in schizophrenia. We conclude with directions for future research as well as implications for treatment.
Local signaling by the EGF receptor

Differing spatial scales of signaling cascades are critical for cell orientation during chemotactic responses. We used biotin EGF bound to streptavidin-coupled magnetic beads to locally stimulate cells overexpressing the EGF receptor. We have found that EGF-induced actin polymerization remains localized even under conditions of receptor overexpression. Conversely, EGF-induced ERK activation spreads throughout the cell body after EGF bead stimulation. The localized actin polymerization is independent of PI3-kinase and rho protein activity and requires Arp2/3 complex and cofilin function. Thus, we find differing spatial scales of signaling from the EGF receptor, supporting models of chemotaxis that integrate short- and long-range signaling.
An inexpensive distance measuring system for navigation of robotic vehicles

Robotic vehicles operating indoors may be unable to receive the GPS signals that are commonly used for navigational control. This article describes an inexpensive system for location measurement in the absence of GPS with a range of 7.5 m and a resolution of 3 cm for a mass-produced cost of under $100. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 33: 84–87, 2002; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.10241
Construct and face validity of a virtual reality-based camera navigation curriculum.

Abstract Introduction Camera handling and navigation are essential skills in laparoscopic surgery. Surgeons rely on camera operators, usually the least experienced members of the team, for visualization of the operative field. Essential skills for camera operators include maintaining orientation, an effective horizon, appropriate zoom control, and a clean lens. Virtual reality (VR) simulation may be a useful adjunct to developing camera skills in a novice population. No standardized VR-based camera navigation curriculum is currently available. We developed and implemented a novel curriculum on the LapSim VR simulator platform for our residents and students. We hypothesize that our curriculum will demonstrate construct and face validity in our trainee population, distinguishing levels of laparoscopic experience as part of a realistic training curriculum. Methods Overall, 41 participants with various levels of laparoscopic training completed the curriculum. Participants included medical students, surgical residents (Postgraduate Years 1–5), fellows, and attendings. We stratified subjects into three groups (novice, intermediate, and advanced) based on previous laparoscopic experience. We assessed face validity with a questionnaire. The proficiency-based curriculum consists of three modules: camera navigation, coordination, and target visualization using 0° and 30° laparoscopes. Metrics include time, target misses, drift, path length, and tissue contact. We analyzed data using analysis of variance and Student's t -test. Results We noted significant differences in repetitions required to complete the curriculum: 41.8 for novices, 21.2 for intermediates, and 11.7 for the advanced group ( P P P Conclusions The VR-based camera navigation curriculum demonstrates construct and face validity for our training population. Camera navigation simulation may be a valuable tool that can be integrated into training protocols for residents and medical students during their surgery rotations.
Disparity in Neurotransmitter Release Probability among Competing Inputs during Neuromuscular Synapse Elimination

Competition among the several motor axons transiently innervating neonatal muscle fibers results in an increasing disparity in the quantal content and synaptic territory of each competitor, culminating in the permanent loss of all but one axon from neuromuscular junctions. We asked whether differences in the probability of neurotransmitter release also contribute to the increasing disparity in quantal content among competing inputs, and when in the process of competition changes in release probability become apparent. To address these questions, intracellular recordings were made from dually innervated neonatal mouse soleus muscle fibers, and quantal content and paired-pulse facilitation were evaluated for each input. At short interpulse intervals, paired-pulse facilitation was significantly higher for the weaker input with the smaller quantal content than the stronger input with the larger quantal content. Because neurotransmitter release probability across all release sites is inversely related to the extent of facilitation observed after paired-pulse stimulation, this result suggests that release probability is lower for weak compared with strong inputs innervating the same junction. A disparity in the probability of neurotransmitter release thus contributes to the disparity in quantal content that occurs during synaptic competition. Together, this work suggests that an input incapable of sustaining a high release probability may be at a competitive disadvantage for synaptic maintenance.
PHOTOMOVEMENT RESPONSES OF PORPHYRIDIUM PURPUREUM1

The influence of light quality on positive phototopotaxis by the gliding, unicellular red alga Porphyridium purpureum was obtained using interference filters. Cells exposed to 3 × 10−7 mol · m2· s−1 of various wavelengths for 72 h showed maximum topotaxis at 420 and 440 nm. The lower threshold for positive, movement was approximately 5 × 10−8 mol · m−2· s−1. Random movement occurred at nonactinic wavelengths, and no movement occurred in the dark. Cell motility appeared to be unaffected by light polarity, suggesting that the photoreceptor(s) for topotaxis and photokinesis are randomly oriented.
Difficulties in Demonstrating Superiority of an Antibiotic for Multidrug-Resistant Bacteria in Nonrandomized Studies

The discovery and development of new antimicrobials is critically important, especially as multidrug-resistant bacteria continue to emerge. Little has been written about the epidemiological issues in nonrandomized trials aiming to evaluate the superiority of one antibiotic over another. In this manuscript, we outline some of the methodological difficulties in demonstrating superiority and discuss potential approaches to these problems. Many of the difficulties arise due to confounding by indication, which we define and explain. Epidemiological methods including restriction, matching, stratification, multivariable regression, propensity scores, and instrumental variables are discussed.
International Intra-Company Transfer Pricing

This paper presents the important issues of the multinational corporation's transfer pricing determination problem. It discusses the behavioral consequences of the setting of transfer prices by top management. It presents a model of transfer pricing that is developed further to include all of the issues that affect the total profits of the multinational corporation through transfer prices. The model is then expanded to include economic externalities and interdependencies such as nonlinear cost functions and functional relationships among demand, supply and transfer prices. An example is given and solved via geometric programming.
Orthogonal filters with a realization specified partial transfer

The embedding of transfer function F(z) as a partial transfer in an orthogonal filter so that the resulting realization of F(z) is specified as tau /sub F/=(A/sub F/ B/sub F/; C/sub F/ D/sub F/) is investigated. The necessary and sufficient conditions and a minimum size solution are given. The special case of embedding principal axis realizations is considered. Some new properties concerning the matrix norms or principal axis realizations are derived. >
Limitations of Markov random fields as models of textured images of real surfaces

We investigate to what extent textures can be distinguished using conditional Markov fields and small samples. We establish that the least square (LS) estimator is the only reasonable choice for this task and we prove its asymptotic consistency and normality for a general class of random fields that include Gaussian Markov fields as a special case. The performance of this estimator when applied to textured images of real surfaces is poor if small boxes are used (20/spl times/20 or less). We investigate the nature of this problem by comparing the behavior predicted by the rigorous theory to the one that has been experimentally observed. Our analysis reveal that 20/spl times/20 samples contain enough information to distinguish between the textures in our experiments and that the poor performance mentioned above should be attributed to the fact that conditional Markov fields do not provide accurate models for textured images of many real surfaces. A more general model that exploits more efficiently the information contained in small samples is also suggested. >
Fabrication of Monolithic RERTR Fuels by Hot Isostatic Pressing

The Reduced Enrichment for Research and Test Reactors (RERTR) program develops advanced nuclear fuels for high-power test reactors. Monolithic fuel design provides higher uranium loading than that ...
A comprehensive study of frequency, interference, and training of multiple graphical passwords

Graphical password systems have received significant attention as one potential solution to the need for more usable authentication, but nearly all prior work makes the unrealistic assumption of studying a single password. This paper presents the first study of multiple graphical passwords to systematically examine frequency of access to a graphical password, interference resulting from interleaving access to multiple graphical passwords, and patterns of access while training multiple graphical passwords. We find that all of these factors significantly impact the ease of authenticating using multiple facial graphical passwords. For example, participants who accessed four different graphical passwords per week were ten times more likely to completely fail to authenticate than participants who accessed a single password once per week. Our results underscore the need for more realistic evaluations of the use of multiple graphical passwords, have a number of implications for the adoption of graphical password systems, and provide a new basis for comparing proposed graphical password systems.
Distribution and abundance of Snowy Plovers in eastern North America, the Caribbean, and the Bahamas

Abstract Snowy Plovers (Charadrius alexandrinus) are small, partially migrant shorebirds that are broadly distributed across North America. Snowy Plover distribution west of the Rocky Mountains has been well described. However, distribution and abundance east of the Rocky Mountains has not received much attention despite current status and ESA listing concerns for Snowy Plovers in the southeastern United States and the Caribbean. Thus, a first step in developing a monitoring program for Snowy Plovers is to understand the species' distribution. We summarize information on distribution and abundance of Snowy Plovers in the eastern United States, Caribbean, and Bahamas. Breeding and winter distribution maps for the continental United States were generated from a database of 3563 records from 388 sites in continental North America constructed from International Shorebird Survey (ISS), Christmas Bird Count (CBC), unpublished field data, and published accounts. Comparison of maximum counts per site (1980–presen...
The limits of understanding in biological systematics

Ernst Mayr’s (1961, Science 131: 1501–1506) distinction between proximate and ultimate causation in biology is examined with regard to the acquisition of understanding in biological systematics. Rather than a two-part distinction, understanding in systematics is characterized by relations between three explanatory components: descriptive (observation statements)—proximate (ontogenetic hypotheses)—ultimate (e.g. specific and phylogenetic hypotheses). Initial inferential actions in each component involve reasoning to explanatory hypotheses via abductive inference, providing preliminary understanding. Testing hypotheses, to critically assess understanding, is varied. Descriptive- and proximate-level hypotheses are routinely tested, but ultimate hypotheses present inherent difficulties that impose severe limits, contrary to what is usually claimed in the systematics literature. The problem is compounded by imprecise considerations of ‘evidence’ and ‘support.’ For instance, in most cases, the ‘evidence’ offering ‘support’ for phylogenetic hypotheses, as cladograms, is nothing more than the abductive evidence (premises) used to infer those hypotheses, i.e. character data and associated phylogenetic-based theories. By definition, such evidence only offers initial, trivial understanding, whereas the pertinent evidence sought in the sciences is test evidence, which cannot be supplanted by character data. The pursuit of ultimate understanding by way of spurious procedures such as contrived testing, Bremer support, and resampling methods are discussed with regard to phylogenetic hypotheses.
Computer-Based Automation and Labor Relations in the Construction Equipment Industry

In the late 1970s, labor relations in construction equipment manufacturing became increasingly conflict-ridden. Record-length strikes over job security, wage and benefit concessions, and the handling of grievances from 1979 into the early 1980s ended two decades of relative industrial peace in this industry. We focus on this shift in labor relations which occurred as automation, foreign competition, and other factors changed the nature and organization of work in the industry during the years 1960—1984. In doing so, we apply the social contract model as a means of analyzing the changing labor relations in this industry.
Chapter 23 – Urban Crime

We survey the literature on index crime, paying particular attention to spatial issues. We note the contrasting descriptive traditions of Lombroso (characteristics matter) and Beccaria (incentives matter), and the contrasting policy traditions of incapacitation (predict who will offend and keep them from doing it) and deterrence (uncover who offended and punish them). The economics of crime has several points of contact with the economics of space, since the commission of an index crime requires proximity between offenders and victims (or their property). We explore these linkages, as well as a range of other issues: the effects of certainty and severity of punishment on crime; the role of stereotypes in interactions between offenders, victims, and law enforcement officers; and racial disparities in victimization, offending, and incarceration. The economics of crime has made tremendous progress, but enormous variation across both time and space remains poorly understood, and many nontraditional explanations often neglected by economists need to be explored more systematically.
Mid-Career Administrative Training for Engineers

Civil engineers in public works fields are trained as engineers, and all the professional rewards (e.g., committee assignments, publications, society posts, and national recognition) are aimed at making them technical elites. Yet the majority of such people move into jobs that are primarily administrative as they get more seniority—and nothing in their formal education or training prepares them for what they meet. The Graduate Center for Public Works Engineering and Administration at the University of Pittsburgh was sponsored by the American Public Works Association in 1965 to prepare mid-career professionals for their “second careers.” Thus far it has graduated six classes, awarding 85 graduate degrees. While the emphasis is on basic administrative, environmental, and politico-economic issues, students select areas of concentration such as urban planning and management, environmental management, systems analysis, transportation planning and management, water resources management, and regional economic development.
Mixing Zone Analysis for River Plumes

Steam power plants which utilize once-through cooling, are required to meet certain mixing zone standards for thermal plumes. Once-through cooling occurs when water is withdrawn from a natural river or lake, and heated water is returned to the same, after condenser circulation. Compliance with regulatory standards during plant operation is often verified from field measurements at specified time intervals. Field data from thermal plume surveys can be used to develop mixing zone models. These are useful in establishing the necessary operating criteria that will assure compliance with the standards during plant operation over the specified range of river flows. A case study is presented illustrating the development of mixing zone models, and the application of such models to evaluate the possible operating criteria for a nuclear power plant at low river flows.
Comparison of Psychological Androgyny within a Sample of Female College Athletes Who Participate in Sports Traditionally Appropriate and Traditionally Inappropriate for Competition by Females

Female participants in sports traditionally inappropriate (basketball and Softball) and traditionally appropriate (tennis and swimming) for competition by females were compared on the personality t...
A diagnostic kit for the enteroviruses Coxsackie A6 and A10

Recently, there has been an upward trend in the occurrence of hand-foot-mouth disease, which is correlated with Coxsackie A6 and A10 infections. Although two separate diagnostic reagents are available for these two viral strains, the protocol and diagnosis efficiency still need to be improved. More importantly, as co-infection with these viruses is common, the development of a single test kit that can diagnose both viruses would be most beneficial for clinical practice. In our study, specific primers targeting viral nucleic acids were designed and modified. Viral nucleic acids were extracted from fecal or throat swab samples by ultrasonic rupture and silicon membrane purification. The consistency, specificity, and sensitivity of the tests were further optimized by adjusting the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) conditions. The efficiency of viral nucleic acid extraction was significantly enhanced by the ultrasonic rupture and silicon membrane elution approach. Specific amplifications of both viral nucleic acids were achieved using modified primers. The optimal conditions for PCR were also determined (60°C for 30 min and 95°C for 2 min, followed by 40 cycles of denaturation for 30 s at 95°C, annealing for 30 s at 60°C, and elongation for 50 s at 72°C). Amplified products were confirmed as viral specific nucleotides by agarose gel electrophoresis and sequencing. The minimal nucleic acid concentration required for detection was 0.2 ng/L, which was adequate to yield satisfactory specificity and consistency. This novel diagnostic method has many advantages, including rapid protocols and accurate results, and can be promoted for large-scale clinical trials.
Prepregnancy Obesity Class Is a Risk Factor for Failure to Exclusively Breastfeed at Hospital Discharge among Latinas

Background:Suboptimal infant feeding practices, including the failure to exclusively breastfeed, are modifiable risk factors that affect multiple maternal and child health outcomes. Women who are o...
Not just research tools--proteasome inhibitors offer therapeutic promise.

Proteasome inhibitors have served as critical tools to investigate protein degradation in eukaryotic cells. Now, these inhibitors are proving effective in the treatment of cancer and inflammatory disorders, most recently in animal models of psoriasis.
The research of the hydraulic molding control system technonlogy based on PLC

The paper introduces the use of S7- 200 series PLC on anode ring hydraulic molding automatic control system,electrolytic aluminum industry needs to consume a large amount of anode ring,the ordinary manual mode of production can produce an anode ring per minute,re- design by PLC technology allows the production efficiency triple,stability of production,but also makes more reliable while reducing operating workers work intensity.