cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Estimating photosynthetically available radiation at the ocean surface from GOCI data

A technique is presented to estimate photosynthetically available radiation (PAR) at the ocean surface from Geostationary Ocean Color Imager (GOCI) data. The sensor is adapted to the problem, since it measures at visible wavelengths and does not saturate over clouds, and the hourly data provides adequate temporal sampling to describe diurnal variability of clouds. Instantaneous surface PAR is computed as the difference between the solar irradiance incident at the top of the atmosphere (known) and the solar irradiance reflected back to space (derived from GOCI radiance), taking into account absorption and scattering by the clear atmosphere (modeled). Knowledge of pixel composition is not required. Apart from planetary albedo and sun zenith angle, the model parameters are fixed at their climatological values. The instantaneous PAR estimates at hourly intervals are integrated over time to provide daily values. The technique is applied to GOCI imagery acquired on 5 April 2011, and the GOCI daily PAR estimates are compared with those obtained from MODerate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) data. Agreement is good between the two types of estimates, with a coefficient of determination (r2) of 0.778, a bias of 0.23 Em−2d−1 (0.5% with higher GOCI values), and a root-mean-squared difference of 5.00 Em−2d−1 (11.2%). Differences in cloudy conditions are attributed to daily cloudiness changes not captured by the MODIS observations. The comparison statistics indicate that GOCI PAR estimates have acceptable accuracy for regional studies of aquatic photosynthesis.
Psoralen Photobiology: Recent Advances

Clinical efficacy may arise from psoralen-induced photodamage by the induction of a panoply of biomolecules. In cellular studies with UV or photoactivatable agents, the activation of NF-kappa B, probably the most widely studied transcription factor, occurs after its release from an inhibiting factor, I kappa B. The activation of transcription factors has also been correlated with the UV absorption spectrum of DNA (35). Furthermore, it was shown that the photoadducts do not need to be processed or repaired because transcription factor induction is observed in repair-deficient cells. In these latter cells lower UV doses are required to induce these transcription factors. As a result of transcription factor induction, treated cells may have a greater number of class I molecules on their surface and an altered cytokine profile. It is possible (and likely) that these effects occur in different cells to different extents. The important message is that activational events may occur that could alter the cell's (or cells') ability to regulate a disease process. Many studies have shown that the time frame for this type of damage-induced event may range from seconds to minutes (36). Clearly 8-MOP/UVA-induced events such as those described above could be initiated as the result of a single photochemotherapy session.
Kearns‐Sayre Syndrome: Association with Long QT Syndrome?

Kearns-Sayre Syndrome. Kearns-Sayre syndrome has associated cardiac findings, predominantly complete heart block, which has been implicated as a mechanism of sudden death in these individuals. A patient with Kearns-Sayre syndrome who had syncope and multiple cardiac arrests due to ventricular tachycardia in the setting of QT prolongation is described. Long QT syndrome is implicated as another possibility for sudden death in Kearns-Sayre syndrome. This potential association is unexplained, but now totals two reports in the small numbers of patients reported.
The Relationship Between Soil Moisture and NDVI Near Barrow, Alaska

Ice-wedge polygons and drained thaw lake basins cover large portions of the Barrow Peninsula of Alaska. These landforms lead to variations in topography in the relatively flat coastal plain. These variations in topography, while small, lead to large variations in soil moisture, which have a substantial impact on carbon, water, and energy fluxes in these systems. In this study, we hypothesize that the spatial patterns of soil moisture control variations in vegetation production, and hence remotely sensed greenness. We investigate the relationship between soil moisture and a remotely sensed measure of vegetation greenness, the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). Soil moisture was measured in the summer of 2000 in the fetch of an eddy flux tower (0.5 km2 footprint), and NDVI data were collected using an aerial digital multispectral camera system. Results indicate that the relationship between soil moisture and NDVI was significant in areas dominated by high-centered polygons and troughs, and where...
The PPAR-RXR Transcriptional Complex in the Vasculature Energy in the Balance

The peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) and the retinoid X receptors (RXRs) are ligand-activated transcription factors that coordinately regulate gene expression. This PPAR-RXR transcriptional complex plays a critical role in energy balance, including triglyceride metabolism, fatty acid handling and storage, and glucose homeostasis: processes whose dysregulation characterize obesity, diabetes, and atherosclerosis. PPARs and RXRs are also involved directly in inflammatory and vascular responses in endothelial and vascular smooth muscle cells. New insights into fundamental aspects of PPAR and RXR biology, and their actions in the vasculature, continue to appear. Although RXRs are obligate heterodimeric partners for PPAR action, the part that RXRs, and their endogenous retinoid mediators, exert in the vessel wall is less well understood. Biological insights into PPAR-RXRs may help inform interpretation of clinical trials with synthetic PPAR agonists and prospects for future PPAR therapeutics. Importantly, the extensive data establishing a key role for PPARs and RXRs in energy balance, inflammation, and vascular biology stands separately from the clinical experience with any given synthetic PPAR agonist. Both the basic science data and the clinical experience with PPAR agonists identify the need to better understand these important transcriptional regulators.
False-Positive Human Immunodeficiency Virus Enzyme Immunoassay Results in Pregnant Women

Objective: Examine whether false-positive HIV enzyme immunoassay (EIA) test results occur more frequently among pregnant women than among women who are not pregnant and men (others). Design: To obtain a large number of pregnant women and others tested for HIV, we identified specimens tested at a national laboratory using Genetic Systems HIV-1/HIV-2 Plus O EIA from July 2007 to June 2008. Methods: Specimens with EIA repeatedly reactive and Western blot-negative or indeterminate results were considered EIA false-positive. We compared the false-positive rate among uninfected pregnant women and others, adjusting for HIV prevalence. Among all reactive EIAs, we evaluated the proportion of false-positives, positive predictive value (PPV), and Western blot bands among indeterminates, by pregnancy status. Results: HIV prevalence was 0.06% among 921,438 pregnant women and 1.34% among 1,103,961 others. The false-positive rate was lower for pregnant women than others (0.14% vs. 0.21%, odds ratio 0.65 [95% confidence interval 0.61, 0.70]). Pregnant women with reactive EIAs were more likely than others (p,0.01) to have Western blot-negative (52.9% vs. 9.8%) and indeterminate results (17.0% vs. 3.7%) and lower PPV (30% vs. 87%). The p24 band was detected more often among pregnant women (p,0.01). Conclusions: False-positive HIV EIA results were rare and occurred less frequently among pregnant women than others. Pregnant women with reactive EIAs were more likely to have negative and indeterminate Western blot results due to lower HIV prevalence and higher p24 reactivity, respectively. Indeterminate results may complicate clinical management during pregnancy. Alternative methods are needed to rule out infection in persons with reactive EIAs from low prevalence populations.
The Pacifier Debate: In Reply

In Reply .— We thank the authors for their interest in our article and their thoughtful comments. We appreciate the updated US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) grading scale and matrix provided by Drs Calonge and Petitti.1 We had not been aware of the newer scale when we conducted our meta-analysis, and thus our use of the 1996 methodology was an unintentional oversight. However, after carefully reviewing the methodology used currently by the USPSTF, we believe that our pacifier recommendation2 as a potential preventive strategy against sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) would retain the B grading: fair to good strength of evidence of moderate net benefit. As stated in our article, we used the USPSTF taxonomy to classify our recommendation; the task force was in no way involved in the study or its conclusions. We feel that our review of the evidence was “comprehensive, objective, and attentive to quality.”1 We conducted a comprehensive literature search beginning at 1966 and used an analytic framework for evaluating the quality of each study; we excluded from the meta-analysis any studies that were of lower quality. We included studies that measured the associations between pacifier use (the preventive service) and the health outcome of interest (ie, occurrence of SIDS) rather than intermediate outcomes. Because the best studies available used case-control designs, these would be classified under the hierarchy of research design as level II-2. Using the criteria for grading internal validity of individual studies would qualify them as having “good” internal validity. Next, we examined the quality of the full body of evidence. Here, we found that the evidence for pacifier use at last sleep is highly consistent and internally and externally valid (generalizable). We also believe that the evidence is coherent, that is, makes sense on the basis of hypothesized mechanisms …
Does the non-saturable cell entry apply to the charge-free form of amino acids?

Abstract The slow cellular entry shown by neutral α-amino acids at very high concentrations appears not to arise from diffusion of the totally uncharged species through the plasma membrane of the Ehrlich cell, judging from a similarity of the rates observed for the two conformational isomers of 1-amino-2-hydroxy-cyclohexane-carboxylic acid. One of these isomers provides in neutral solution 4 times as large a proportion of the charge-free species as the other, and 5 times the proportion calculated for alanine.
Phenotypic recognition of maternal (mosaic) and paternal (segmental) isodisomy for chromosome 14 without a Robertsonian translocation

We report 2 cases of UPD-14 initially suspected on the basis of clinical rather than cytogenetic clues. The girl with maternal isodisomy presented prenatally with a positive triple marker screen for Down syndrome but a 46, XX karyotype on amniocentesis. Growth retardation, borderline microcephaly, hypotonia and multiple minor anomalies prompted a placental chromosome study that showed non-mosaic trisomy 14. Blood karyotype was normal and UPD-14 was confirmed at 6 weeks. She continues to have hypotonia and delayed motor but normal cognitive skills at 2-1/2 years despite the appearance of streaky hyperpigmentation on all four limbs suggesting low-grade mosaicism for a trisomic cell line. The boy with paternal isodisomy was found by prenatal ultrasound to have an omphalocele, polyhydramnios and mild skeletal disproportion but chromosomes were 46, XY in amniocytes, lymphocytes and fibroblasts. Major anomalies involving the CNS and cardiovascular system were noted postnatally. The unusual radiographic appearance of his ribs resembled that described in other reports of paternal UPD-14 (Walter, 1996; Cotter, 1997). Molecular confirmation was obtained at 7 months but a plugged tracheostomy tube caused severe anoxic brain injury and he remains hospitalized at 10 months Markers from 14pter through 14q11.2 (D14S740 and D14S1422) are biparental while those from 14q12 (D14S599 and D14S306) through 14qter are uniparental. This implies that paternally imprinted genes on chromosome 14 are located at least 20 cM from the terminal short arm
O VI in Elliptical Galaxies: Indicators of Cooling Flows

Early-type galaxies often contain a hot X-ray-emitting interstellar medium [(3-8) × 106 K] with an apparent radiative cooling time much less than a Hubble time. If unopposed by a heating mechanism, the gas will radiatively cool to temperatures 104 K at a rate proportional to LX/TX, typically 0.03-1 M☉ yr-1. We can test whether gas is cooling through the 3 × 105 K range by observing the O VI doublet, whose luminosity is proportional to the cooling rate. Here we report on a study of an unbiased sample of 24 galaxies, obtaining Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer spectra to complement the X-ray data of ROSAT and Chandra. The O VI line emission was detected in about 40% of the galaxies and at a luminosity level similar to the prediction from the cooling flow model. There is a correlation between and X, although there is significant dispersion about the relationship, where the O VI is brighter or dimmer than expected by a factor of 3 or more. If the cooling flow picture is to be retained, then this dispersion requires that cooling flows be time-dependent, as might occur by the activity of an AGN. However, of detected objects, those with the highest or lowest values of /X are not systematically hot or cool, as one might predict from AGN heating.
Internal photoemission in Ag-Al 2 O 3 -Al junctions

We report a detailed study of the magnitude of the photon-induced current in Ag-Al 2 O 3 -Al metal-oxide-metal junctions as a function of photon energy and angle of incident radiation. Experimental observations and a theory based on vacuum photoemission are found to be in good agreement. Fast risetimes ( \lsim50 ns) and linearity of the photocurrent with respect to incident power up to at least 10 kW/cm2are also reported.
Program locality of vectorized applications running on the IBM 3090 with vector facility

An instruction-level simulator is used to study the program locality of large scientific applications. The simulator, which models an IBM 3090 processor with Vector Facility and a cache, was developed to help a programmer improve the performance of an application through better understanding and use of the Vector Facility and the memory hierarchy of the IBM 3090 system. Our main observations on a set of scientific applications are as follows: (1) although the applications have different characteristics of memory accesses and vectorization , their program locality is high enough to take advantage of conventional cache structures; (2) the cache hit ratio of the vector execution can be quite different from (but not significantly lower than) that of the scalar execution of the same application; and (3) the application programs that are written to optimize the use of the memory hierarchy in the system generally result in higher cache hit ratios than the others. The cache performance of these applications with respect to various cache parameters is also presented. In particular, our study finds that the cache structure of the IBM 3090 is well suited for large scientific applications.
Magnetic properties of amorphous films of Bi2O3-CuO-Fe2O3: Studies on the effects of sputtering parameters

Abstract Amorphous thin films of Bi 2 O 3 -CuO-Fe 2 O 3 are paramagnetic in the as-deposited state and show a ferrimagnetic character when annealed in air at high temperatures. From magnetization and ferromagnetic resonance studies, the spontaneous moment in the annealed samples is attributed to the presence of ordered clusters with a composition and spin structure similar to that for crystalline copper ferrite. This study is concerned with the dependence of magnetic properties of sputtered films on preparation conditions such as the sputtering atmosphere and substrate temperature. Studies on 0.2 Bi 2 O 3 -0.3 CuO-0.5 Fe 2 O 3 prepared in a mixed oxygen-argon atmosphere and annealed at high temperatures show (i) that the saturation magnetization, Curie temperature, ferromagnetic resonance linewidth and the gyromagnetic ratio increase with increase in the oxygen partial pressure p (O 2 ), and (ii) that the uniaxial anisotropy field decreases as the oxygen partial pressure is increased. The anticipated presence of divalent iron ions in films prepared in an argon-rich atmosphere may account for the observed variation of some magnetic parameters with p (O 2 ). Attempts to initiate the formation of magnetically ordered amorphous clusters in situ by heating the substrates were unsuccesful. Films prepared at substrate temperatures T s below 800 K are amorphous and are paramagnetic at room temperature. At higher T s , one observes the formation of crystalline magnetic phases in the samples.
Unsteady, separated flow behind an oscillating, two-dimensional spoiler

Unsteady, separated flow produced downstream of a two-dimensional lifting spoiler was examined experimentally using phase-averaged laser-Doppler anemometer and surface pressure measurements. Special emphasis was placed on measuring the unsteady, reversing flow just behind the spoiler. Sinusoidal spoiler oscillations with reduced frequencies in the range 0.025-0.06 were used to create unsteady vortices in the flow, and pitch-and-hold spoiler motions were used to investigate the evolution of the unsteady vortex into a steady separation
Stability of axisymmetric liquid-fluid interfaces towards general disturbances

Abstract It is shown by making use of an invariance property of a symmetrization process of Steiner that the free surface of a liquid bridge or a soap film which connects the edges of flat coaxial parallel plates is generated by rotation of a curve representable as r = r(z), which is stable towards small axisymmetric disturbances and is also stable towards small non-axisymmetric disturbances when both types of disturbance leave invariant the end circles and the volume enclosed by the free surface and end plates. A corresponding result is also proven for liquid bridges between convex solids in the zero contact angle case.
Interaction of Tryptophan Analogs with POPC Lipid Bilayers Investigated by Molecular Dynamics Calculations

Several experimental structures of integral membrane proteins have demonstrated that tryptophan side chains are found preferentially within the membrane interface, but no clear physical explanation for this preference has been demonstrated. The present work contains a series of molecular dynamics simulations designed to provide insight into this phenomenon. Specifically, we performed conventional unbiased simulations, as well as biased molecular dynamics of indole and N-methylindole within palmitoyloleoyl phosphatidylcholine (POPC) bilayers. The unbiased calculations examined the behavior of the indoles in three environmentsthe membrane center, the headgroup region, and the water outside the membrane. The biased calculations were performed using a new dynamic windowing procedure, which efficiently moved the indoles through the bilayer. These calculations allowed us to explore the orientation, hydrogen bonding, and energetics of the indole, as a function of its location along the membrane normal. Furthermo...
Lead isotopes in volcanic rocks and possible ocean-floor thrusting beneath island arcs

The isotopic composition of lead in the Japanese primary basalts gradually decreases in radiogenic character in a transverse from the Pacific Ocean side to the Japan Sea side, whereas the observed 238U204Pb and 232Th204Pb ratios in the basalts increase in the same direction. The isotopic composition of lead suggests that tholeiite (Pacific side) is generated at a shallower depth than alkali basalt (Japan Sea side) as postulated by Kuno. The inverse correlation of the 238U204Pb with the 206Pb204Pb ratios could be due to preferential Pb extraction with respect to uranium at shallow depths. Alternatively, these geochemical results can be interpreted in terms of the Pacific oceanic rigid plate being underthurst beneath the island arc. The isotopic variation in basalts across the Japanese island arc would result from different proportions of the plate material and the upper mantle of continental side in the partial melt.
The anatomy and fine structure of the eye in teleost. II. The vascular connections of the lentiform body in Fundulus grandis.

Abstract The lentiform body is found in association with the choroid body in the back of teleost eyes. It probably helps to maintain the elevated oxygen tension which has already been produced by the choroid body-choriocapillaris complex. The body contains interdigitating afferent and efferent capillary beds (rete mirabile) which, by counter-current exchange, could have such a conservation effect. It has been reported that lentiform bodies are found only in connection with falciform processes. However, in Fundulus there is no falciform process and the body connects to the hyaloid vessels which in turn supply blood to the retractor lentis muscle and to the vitreous humor at the retinal surface. The lentiform body delivers no blood to the choriocapillaris, but, oddly enough, its venous counter-current blood is supplied by the choriocapillaris.
Tau physics at future facilities

This paper discusses and projects the tau research which may be carried out at CESR, at BEPC, at the SLC, in the next few years at LEP I, at the asymmetric B-factories under construction in Japan and the United States and, if built, a tau-charm factory. As the size of tau data sets increases, there is an increasing need to reduce the effects of systematic errors on the precision and search range of experiments. In most areas of tau physics there is a large amount of progress to be made, but in a few areas it will be difficult to substantially improve the precision of present measurements.
Implicit single-sequence methods for integrating orbits

The solutions of $$\ddot x = F(x,t)$$ , and also $$\dot x = F(x,t)$$ , are developed in truncated series in timet whose coefficients are found empirically. The series ending in thet 6 term yields a position at a final prechosen time that is accurate through 9th order in the sequence size. This is achieved by using Gauss-Radau and Gauss-Lobatto spacings for the several substeps within each sequence. This timeseries method is the same in principle as implicit Runge-Kutta forms, including some not described previously. In some orders these methods are unconditionally stable (A-stable). In the time-series formulation the implicit system converges rapidly. For integrating a test orbit the method is found to be about twice as fast as high-order explicit Runge-Kutta-Nystrom-Fehlberg methods at the same accuracies. Both the Cowell and the Encke equations are solved for the test orbit, the latter being 35% faster. It is shown that the Encke equations are particularly well-adapted to treating close encounters when used with a single-sequence integrator (such as this one) provided that the reference orbit is re-initialized at the start of each sequence. This use of Encke equations is compared with the use of regularized Cowell equations.
Sentence Completion to Assess Children's Views About Aging

Purpose: Sentence completion exercises require students to give open-ended responses to prompts. The first purpose of this article is to describe the method of sentence completion to assess middle-school child-ren's attitudes and beliefs about aging. The second purpose is to describe the patterns of characteristics that children associate with aging. Design and Methods: Two middle schools in San Antonio, TX agreed to have their students participate in the sentence completion exercises at the beginning of the 1998-1999 school year. Teachers asked students to write responses to the following prompts: "Old is ...," "You know you are old when ...," "You know your parents are old when ..., " "When I am old, I..., "and ," and "Old people ...." We coded the responses for their characteristics and whether they were positive, negative, or neutral. Results: Of the 2,476 students, 1,874 (75.6%) wrote responses to at least one prompt. Overall, we collected 3,700 responses and coded 9,438 characteristics (2.6 characteristics per response). The most common characteristics of aging were having wrinkles (21.1%), having gray hair or being bald (20.0%), and being less active (17.5%). Students had a much more positive view of their future (55.4%) compared with their view of aging elicited by the other prompts (range of 4.9-25.7% positive responses). Students infrequently associated old age with specific conditions; only 4.6% mentioned diseases, 6.0% mentioned being ill or taking medications, and 5.7% mentioned sensory problems. Implications: Middle-school students view their futures much more positively than the changes they observe in their parents and other elders. Students infrequently identified specific diseases or impairments as responsible for the changes they observe with aging. These observed responses provide a starting point for educators to develop and deliver gerontologically based materials that teach about healthful habits to maintain independence across a life span.
DNA Methylation in Memory Formation Emerging Insights

The establishment of synaptic plasticity and long-term memory requires lasting cellular and molecular modifications that, as a whole, must endure despite the rapid turnover of their constituent parts. Such a molecular feat must be mediated by a stable, self-perpetuating, cellular information storage mechanism. DNA methylation, being the archetypal cellular information storage mechanism, has been heavily implicated as being necessary for stable activity-dependent transcriptional alterations within the CNS. This review details the foundational discoveries from both gene-targeted and whole-genome sequencing studies that have brought DNA methylation to our attention as a chief regulator of activity- and experience-dependent transcriptional alterations within the CNS. We present a hypothetical framework to resolve disparate experimental findings regarding distinct manipulations of DNA methylation and their effect on memory, taking into account the unique impact activity-dependent alterations in DNA methylation potentially have on both memory-promoting and memory-suppressing gene expression. And last, we discuss potential avenues for future inquiry into the role of DNA methylation during remote memory formation.
Mentors for Undergraduates in Technical Disciplines: A Collaborative Effort by Faculty, Student Development Professionals, and Alumni to Improve Undergraduate Retention and Success in Technical Majors:

Certain identifiable student groups are underrepresented and/or experience difficulties with degree completion in technical majors. In this project, mathematics and computer science faculty, alumni in these disciplines, and student development personnel collaborated to provide support for these students. Preliminary data suggests that a combination of career exploration and mentoring is helpful to these students in refining and pursuing their educational and career goals.
Preimplantation stress and development.

The developmental origins of health and disease hypothesis holds that inappropriate environmental cues in utero, a period marked by tremendous developmental sensitivity, facilitate cellular reprogramming to ultimately predispose disease in adulthood. In this review, we analyze if stress during early stages of development can affect future health. This has wide clinical importance, given that 5 million children have been conceived with assisted reproductive technologies (ART). Because the primary outcome of assisted reproduction procedures is delivery at term of a live, healthy baby, the postnatal effects occurring outside of the neonatal period are often overlooked. To this end, the long-term outcome of ART is appropriately the most relevant concern of the field today. Evidence of adverse consequences is controversial. The majority of studies have concluded no obvious problems in IVF-conceived children, although a number of isolated cases of imprinted diseases, cancers, or malformations have been reported. Given that animal studies suggest alteration of metabolic pathways following preimplantation stress, it will be of great importance to follow-up ART individuals as they enter later stages of adult life.
Researching and Shaping Information Literacy Initiatives in Relation to the Web: Some Framework Problems and Needs

Information literacy and the Web are paramount issues in academic librarianship. The central question addressed by current research was students' quality of Web utilization. Some of the recent data and studies on how students are utilizing the Web is reexamined. Our thesis is that the data are framed by an information literacy perspective, overlooking less hopeful conclusions within the same data. Our purpose is to provide a corrective by accounting for contradictory data and broader social-economic trends.
The House as Setting and Metaphor in Strindberg's Chamber Plays

The houses Strindberg describes in his stage directions for the chamber plays demand a great deal of sheer physical space. A part of a practical, dramaturgical reality that calls for visualization, they constitue an integral part of the setting. It has in fact been said that in Strindberg's chamber plays ‘houses are the main characters’.
An analysis of successful efforts to reduce the use of seclusion and restraint at a public psychiatric hospital.

OBJECTIVE: The author reviews and evaluates a variety of interventions that were considered to have contributed to the successful reduction of reliance on the use of seclusion and restraint in a public psychiatric hospital for adult patients with severe and persistent psychiatric impairments. METHODS: A multiple regression analysis was applied to monthly seclusion and restraint data covering the period from 1997 to 2002. The independent variables were each of the component efforts to reduce reliance on seclusion and restraint at the hospital: changes in the criteria for administrative review of incidents of seclusion and restraint, changes in the composition of the case review committee, development of a behavioral consultation team, enhancement of standards for behavioral assessments and plans, and improvements in the staff-patient ratio. RESULTS: The use of seclusion and restraint was 75 percent lower during the final year of the five-year study period than it was during the first year. The only variabl...
Modeling click and relevance relationship for sponsored search

Click-through rate (CTR) prediction and relevance ranking are two fundamental problems in web advertising. In this study, we address the problem of modeling the relationship between CTR and relevance for sponsored search. We used normalized relevance scores comparable across all queries to represent relevance when modeling with CTR, instead of directly using human judgment labels or relevance scores valid only within same query. We classified clicks by identifying their relevance quality using dwell time and session information, and compared all clicks versus selective clicks effects when modeling relevance.Our results showed that the cleaned click signal outperforms raw click signal and others we explored, in terms of relevance score fitting. The cleaned clicks include clicks with dwell time greater than 5 seconds and last clicks in session. Besides traditional thoughts that there is no linear relation between click and relevance, we showed that the cleaned click based CTR can be fitted well with the normalized relevance scores using a quadratic regression model. This relevance-click model could help to train ranking models using processed click feedback to complement expensive human editorial relevance labels, or better leverage relevance signals in CTR prediction.
Gergen, Confluence, and his Turbulent, Relational Ontology: The Constitution of Our Forms of Life within Ceaseless, Unrepeatable, Intermingling Movements

In Gergen (1994), Ken Gergen made what has become an infamous claim with respect to social constructionism, that “… constructionism is ontologically mute. Whatever is simply is. There is no foundational description to be made about an ‘out there’ as opposed to an ‘in here’, about experience or material” (p.72); in other words, that there is simply no escape from the world of discourse. Yet from his first notable contribution to the radical literature in psychology (Gergen, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 26, 309–320, 1973), he has argued for the fact that we live our lives embedded in the turbulent flow of a number of intermingling activities. Finally, in his latest work (Gergen 2009), he embraces fully a turbulent ontology in his claim that all our activities occur within confluences of relating.
Shopping [for] Power: How Adult Literacy Learners Negotiate the Marketplace

Little empirical evidence exists on how adult literacy learners act as consumers. Yet, adult literacy programs often employ a “functional” approach to consumer education and assume that adult learners are deficient in consumer skills. Data from a qualitative study of the consumer behaviors of adult literacy learners are used to explore how adult learners negotiate the marketplace. The findings challenge the validity of a functional model and support the conceptualization of consumer literacy as a social practice, which includes reading and writing skills, personal and social skills, and the ability to manage the stigma of low literacy.
Designing a fast file system crawler with incremental differencing

Search engines for storage systems rely on crawlers to gather the list of files that need to be indexed. The recency of an index is determined by the speed at which this list can be gathered. While there has been a substantial amount of literature on building efficient web crawlers, there is very little literature on file system crawlers. In this paper we discuss the challenges in building a file system crawler. We then present the design of two file system crawlers: the first uses the standard POSIX file system API but carefully controls the amount of memory and CPU that it uses. The second leverages modifications to the file systems's internals, and a new API called SnapDiff, to detect modified files rapidly. For both crawlers we describe the incremental differencing design; the method to produce a list of changes between a previous crawl and the current point in time.
Targeting airway smooth muscle in airways diseases: an old concept with new twists

Airway smooth muscle (ASM) manifests a hyper-responsive phenotype in airway disorders such as asthma. ASM also modulates immune responses by secreting mediators and expressing cell-surface molecules that promote recruitment of inflammatory cells to the lungs. The aim of the current article is to highlight therapeutics that may modulate ASM responses in airway disorders and exacerbations.
The α1H Ca2+ channel subunit is expressed in mouse jejunal interstitial cells of Cajal and myocytes

T-type Ca2+ currents have been detected in cells from the external muscular layers of gastrointestinal smooth muscles and appear to contribute to the generation of pacemaker potentials in interstitial cells of Cajal from those tissues. However, the Ca2+ channel α subunit responsible for these currents has not been determined. We established that the α subunit of the α1H Ca2+ channel is expressed in single myocytes and interstitial cells of Cajal using reverse transcription and polymerase chain reaction from whole tissue, laser capture microdissected tissue and single cells isolated from the mouse jejunum. Whole-cell voltage clamp recordings demonstrated that a nifedipine and Cd2+ resistant, mibefradil-sensitive current is present in myocytes dissociated from the jejunum. Electrical recordings from the circular muscle layer demonstrated that mibefradil reduced the frequency and initial rate of rise of the electrical slow wave. Gene targeted knockout of both alleles of the cacna1h gene, which encodes the α1H Ca2+ channel subunit, resulted in embryonic lethality because of death of the homozygous knockouts prior to E13.5 days in utero. We conclude that a channel with the pharmacological and molecular characteristics of the α1H Ca2+ channel subunit is expressed in interstitial cells of Cajal and myocytes from the mouse jejunum, and that ionic conductances through the α1H Ca2+ channel contribute to the upstroke of the pacemaker potential. Furthermore, the survival of mice that do not express the α1H Ca2+ channel protein is dependent on the genetic background and targeting approach used to generate the knockout mice.
Sub-100ppb/°C temperature stability in thermally actuated high frequency silicon resonators via degenerate phosphorous doping and bias current optimization

In this work, we study temperature drift behavior of thermally actuated high frequency single crystalline silicon resonators and demonstrate temperature compensation of such via a combination of N-type degenerate doping and adjustment of the operating bias current. Significant suppression of the large negative temperature coefficient of frequency (TCF) for the resonators (−40ppm/°C) has been demonstrated using phosphorous degenerate doping resulting in even slightly positive TCF for some of the devices. Furthermore, it is shown that the TCF for such resonators can be fine tuned by changing the operating bias current enabling very close to zero TCF to be realized. Temperature compensation results for several resonators with different frequencies ranging from 3MHz to 60MHz are presented. TCF as low as −0.05ppm/°C (−50ppb/°C) has been demonstrated for an 8.2MHz resonator, which to the best of our knowledge is the lowest reported value for silicon-based micromechanical resonators.
Chromosome 11p15.5 Regional Imprinting: Comparative Analysis of KIP2 and H19 in Human Tissues and Wilms' Tumors

The imprinted H19 gene is frequently inactivated in Wilms' tumors (WTs) either by chromosome 11p15.5 loss of heterozygosity (LOH) or by hypermethylation of the maternal allele and it is possible that there might be coordinate disruption of imprinting of multiple 11p15.5 genes in these tumors. To test this we have characterized total and allele-specific mRNA expression levels and DNA methylation of the 11p15.5 KIP2 gene in normal human tissues, WTs and embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS). Both KIP2 alleles are expressed but there is a bias with the maternal allele contributing 70-90% of mRNA. Tumors with LOH show moderate to marked reductions in KIP2 mRNA relative to control tissues and residual mRNA expression is from the imprinted paternal allele. Among WTs without LOH most cases with H19 inactivation also have reduced KIP2 expression and most cases with persistent H19 expression have high levels of KIP2 mRNA. In contrast to the extensive hypermethylation of the imprinted H19 allele, both KIP2 alleles are hypomethylated and WTs with biallelic H19 hypermethylation lack comparable hypermethylation of KIP2 DNA. 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine (aza-C) increases H19 expression in RD RMS cells but does not activate KIP2 expression. These data indicate coordinately reduced expression of two linked paternally imprinted genes in most WTs and also suggest mechanistic differences in the maintenance of imprinting at these two loci.
Structuring Gender's Impact

The importance of judge gender as a factor in judicial votes continues to attract much scholarly attention. I contribute to the debate on the influence of judge gender by examining the voting behavior of male and female state supreme court justices in three areas of criminal justice. I find that female justices, controlling for institutional, political, and legal constraints, are more likely than are their male counterparts to rule for the criminal defendant and in a broader array of cases than commonly thought. I conclude that judge gender is a significant factor in the outcome of judicial decisions and that the number of women on the courts is a factor in judicial decision making.
On bubbles rising through suspensions of solid particles

Individual bubbles rising through suspensions of spherical particles neutrally buoyant in viscous Newtonian liquids are tracked with real time radiography. The effects of the containing cylinder, suspended particle, and bubble sizes are reported for particle volume fractions ranging from 0.20 to 0.50. In the most concentrated suspensions, the effect of the bottom surface is felt by the bubble much farther into the suspension than would be true for a single-phase Newtonian liquid. Corrected for wall effects, the apparent viscosity felt by the bubbles is independent of the relative size of the bubble to the particle over a wide range of parameters, and is approximately linear with the suspended particle volume fraction, in contrast to the exponential dependence derived in conventional rheometry. Finally, in the most concentrated suspensions, the bubble deforms to a prolate spheroidal shape despite the lack of significant inertial effects or a viscoelastic suspending liquid. © 2008 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2008
Exploring Tactics in Team Sports Training

Team sports tactics analysis systems often focus on game event detection, which are unable to analyze the tactics in detail and suggest better tactics for training. We introduce a novel tactics training system that is able to assess the state of the basketball game in detail, and find better defense tactics. Instead of tracking only player/ball positions, our system studies players’ attributes together with their court positions to accurately estimate each player’s offense threat or defense ability. We then formulate an optimization problem to find the defense tactics that could minimize the offense team’s threat. The optimal defense tactics found by our system have received favorable evaluations by three professional basketball coaches in Beijing Sports University from a professional point of view, and as opposed to some well known defense conventions, our system opens up new promising defense tactics and possibilities.
Integrative Care in Pediatric Oncology

Pediatric integrative oncology, the intentional combining and coordinating of conventional and evidence-based complementary therapies into the overall treatment plan developed by the pediatric oncology team with the family, is a rapidly emerging field. Many pediatric oncology patients use complementary therapies, primarily in an attempt to support a healthy lifestyle and to mitigate treatment side effects such as pain, anxiety, nausea and vomiting, and fatigue. Most patients and families do not disclose the use of complementary therapy to their oncologist. The most common reason for nondisclosure is that the oncologist does not ask about use. Many oncologists report not feeling sufficiently educated about complementary therapies to answer patient and family questions or to determine whether the modality would be useful or detrimental to the child’s overall care. For providers to encourage patients and families to discuss their questions about the use of complementary therapies openly and honestly, providers must have access to reliable resources or to well qualified consultants. This chapter addresses some of the most common questions families ask about complementary therapies. More outcome-based research about the best ways to integrate these therapies into mainstream oncology care is critical, especially in pediatric patients.
Loss of USF transcriptional activity in breast cancer cell lines

USF is a family of transcription factors that are structurally related to the Myc oncoproteins and also share with Myc a common DNA-binding specificity. USF overexpression can prevent c-Myc-dependent cellular transformation and also inhibit the proliferation of certain transformed cells. These antiproliferative activities suggest that USF inactivation could be implicated in carcinogenesis. To explore this possibility, we compared the activities of the ubiquitous USF1 and USF2 proteins in several cell lines derived from either normal breast epithelium or breast tumors. The DNA-binding activities of USF1 and USF2 were present at similar levels in all cell lines. In the non-tumorigenic MCF-10A cells, USF in general, and USF2 in particular, exhibited strong transcriptional activities. In contrast, USF1 and USF2 were completely inactive in three out of six transformed breast cell lines investigated, while the other three transformed cell lines exhibited loss of USF2 activity. Analyses in cells cultured from healthy tissue confirmed the transcriptional activity of USF in normal human mammary epithelial cells. These results demonstrate that a partial or complete loss of USF function is a common event in breast cancer cell lines, perhaps because, like Myc overexpression, it favors rapid proliferation.
Leukemic Cells as Probes for Sequential Functional Differentiation of the Human Granulocyte

The purpose of this study was to sequence the functional properties of the neutrophil during maturation, using leukemic cells as experimental probes. Twenty-nine cases of acute leukemia, derived from granulocytic precursors, were studied. The functional tests that were evaluated included phagocytosis, bactericidal activity, random locomotion, and chemotaxis. These functional properties were correlated with Fc receptors and the stimulated nitroblue tetrazolium dye reduction test. The results indicated that the various functions of the neutrophil are acquired sequentially rather than concurrently. It is postulated that the sequence of functional differentiation is: phagocytosis leads to microbial killing leads to random locomotion leads to chemotaxis.
Network thermodynamic model of rat lingual epithelium: effects of hyperosmotic NaCl

A network thermodynamic model was developed to describe steady-state and transient ion flows (Na+, K+, and Cl-) and related electrical events in the rat lingual epithelium. The model, which uses only standard assumptions about topology and membrane ion transport processes from other tight epithelia, successfully simulates steady-state transepithelial electrical measurements seen in the in vitro rat dorsal lingual epithelium for a wide range (50-2,000 mM) of mucosal NaCl concentrations. It also simulates the intracellular depolarization and subsequent repolarization observed in situ in rat taste cells in response to a mucosal hyperosmotic NaCl stimulus. Because the intracellular potential has been identified with the receptor potential for gustation, the depolarization and repolarization may explain both the phasic and tonic components of taste nerve excitation in response to a salt stimulus. This study suggests that a better understanding of taste transduction may be gained by focusing more attention on the transport properties and mechanisms of lingual epithelia.
A comparative analytic study on the Gaussian mixture and context dependent deep neural network hidden Markov models.

We conducted a comparative analytic study on the contextdependent Gaussian mixture hiddenMarkov model (CD-GMMHMM) and deep neural network hidden Markov model (CDDNN-HMM) with respect to the phone discrimination and the robustness performance. We found that the DNN can significantly improve the phone recognition performance for every phoneme with 15.6% to 39.8% relative phone error rate reduction (PERR). It is particularly good at discriminating certain consonants, which are found to be “hard” in the GMM. On the robustness side, the DNN outperforms the GMM at all SNR levels, across different devices, and under all speaking rate with nearly uniform improvement. The performance gap with respect to different SNR levels, distinct channels, and varied speaking rate remains large. For example, in CD-DNNHMM, we observed 1∼2% performance degradation per 1dB SNR drop; 20∼25% performance gap between the best and least well performed devices; 15∼30% relative word error rate increase when the speaking rate speeds up or slows down by 30% from the “sweet” spot. Therefore, we conclude the robustness remains to be a major challenge in the deep learning acoustic model. Speech enhancement, channel normalization, and speaking rate compensation are important research areas in order to further improve the DNN model accuracy.