cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Neuroaesthetics: The State of the Domain in 2017

In this article, I assess the current state of neuroaesthetics by reviewing 10 recent books on neuroscientific and evolutionary aspects of aesthetic cognition. These books largely continue the main thrust of this genre since its inception. Virtually all are insightful and thought-provoking, though their individual strengths vary. Among them, Shimamura and Palmer’s edited book, Aesthetic Science, provides the most useful and balanced interdisciplinary framework, making philosophy and psychology equal partners with neuroscience. This pluralistic mode, dethroning neuroscience from its usual hegemony, seems best poised to address heretofore neglected issues in neuroaesthetics research. I address several dichotomous tensions—high versus low art, the drive for creative innovation versus evolutionarily canalized aesthetic biases, and explicit versus implicit aspects of aesthetic cognition—to identify promising future research directions, which can best be fulfilled though interdisciplinary cooperation and debate, with a continued emphasis on evolutionary theory. Keywords: neuroaesthetics, evolution, neuroscience, aesthetic cognition, art appreciation, aesthetic experience, creativity, two cultures Books under review: Chatterjee, Anjan. 2014. The Aesthetic Brain: How We Evolved to Desire Beauty and Enjoy Art. New York: Oxford University Press. xxiii, 217 pages. Paperback $19.95. Huston, Joseph P., Marcos Nadal, Francisco Mora, Luigi F. Agnati, and Camilo J. Cela-Conde, eds. 2015. Art, Aesthetics, and the Brain. New York: Oxford University Press. vii, 545 pages. Hardcover $159.50. Kandel, Eric R. 2012. The Age of Insight: The Quest to Understand the Unconscious in Art, Mind, and Brain, from Vienna 1900 to the Present. New York: Random House. 636 pages. Hardcover $50.00. Kandel, Eric R. 2016. Reductionism in Art and Brain Science. New York: Columbia University Press. 226 pages. Hardcover $29.95. Lauring, Jon O., ed. 2014. An Introduction to Neuroaesthetics: The Neuroscientific Approach to Aesthetic Experience, Artistic Creativity, and Arts Appreciation. Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum Press. ix, 425 pages. Paperback $50.00. Orians, Gordon H. 2014. Snakes, Sunrises, and Shakespeare. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 221 pages. Paperback $17.00. Rothenberg, David. 2011. Survival of the Beautiful: Art, Science, and Evolution. New York: Bloomsbury. 311 pages. Paperback $19.00. Shimamura, Arthur P. 2013. Experiencing Art: In the Brain of the Beholder. New York: Oxford University Press. 280 pages. Paperback $56.00. Shimamura, Arthur P., and Stephen E. Palmer, eds. 2012. Aesthetic Science: Connecting Minds, Brains, and Experience. New York: Oxford University Press. 408 pages. Paperback $47.95. Starr, G. Gabrielle. 2013. Feeling Beauty: The Neuroscience of Aesthetic Experience. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. xvi, 259 pages. Hardcover $30.00.
Kinesins and Myosins: Molecular Motors that Coordinate Cellular Functions in Plants.

Kinesins and myosins are motor proteins that can move actively along microtubules and actin filaments, respectively. Plants have evolved a unique set of motors that function as regulators and organizers of the cytoskeleton and as drivers of long-distance transport of various cellular components. Recent progress has established the full complement of motors encoded in plant genomes and has revealed valuable insights into the cellular functions of many kinesin and myosin isoforms. Interestingly, several of the motors were found to functionally connect the two cytoskeletal systems and thereby to coordinate their activities. In this review, we discuss the available genetic, cell biological, and biochemical data for each of the plant kinesin and myosin families from the context of their subcellular mechanism of action as well as their physiological function in the whole plant. We particularly emphasize work that illustrates mechanisms by which kinesins and myosins coordinate the activities of the cytoskeletal ...
NGF-Dependent Regeneration of Adult Septal Cholinergic Axons into Denervated Hippocampus

Publisher Summary Within the central nervous system of adult mammals, there is a limited capacity for repair and functional recovery after neuronal injury. To achieve recovery a number of sequential events must occur — (1) survival of the soma of the injured cells, (2) re-growth of the axon, (3) specificity of target innervation, and (4) synaptic formation. Lesions of the fimbria fornix axotomize the cholinergic septohippocampal projections resulting in the degeneration and then death of 50% of the cholinergic neurons in the medial septum and the down-regulation of cholinergic markers, acetylcholinesterase (AChE) histochemistry, choline acetyltransferase activity, and nerve growth factor receptor (NGFr) immunohistochemistry, in 25%–30% of the surviving septal cholinergic cells four weeks following transaction. Only the rats with NGF-producing fibroblasts in the bridging graft demonstrated AChE activity and NGFr immunoreactivity in the graft and in the adjacent hippocampus. Cholinergic fibers grew an average of 1.50 mm into the hippocampus from the graft surface. While lacking these cholinergic markers, control grafts of primary fibroblasts infected with the transgene for s-galactosidase (s-gal) did express s-gal in some of the fibroblasts of the graft, indicating continued transgene expression over 7 months.
Toward Unification of Keywords and Low-Level Contents

The performance of a image retrieval system is inherently constrained by the use of the low-level features and cannot give satisfactory retrieval results in many cases, especially when the high-level concepts in the user’s mind are not easily expressible in terms of the low-level features. Therefore, for real world applications, whenever possible, textual annotations shall be added or extracted and/or processed to improve the retrieval performance. In this part we explore the unification of keywords and feature contents for image retrieval. We propose a seamless joint querying and relevance feedback scheme based on both keywords and low-level feature contents incorporating keyword similarities. We propose a WARF (word association via relevance feedback) formula as a pseudoclassification algorithm for the learning of the term similarity matrix during user interaction. This learned similarity matrix, specific to the dataset as well as the users, can be applied for keyword semantic grouping, thesaurus construction, and soft query expansion during intelligent image retrieval with user-in-the-loop.
Applications of Distance Geometry to Molecular Conformation

Several recent advances in both the theory and algorithms for the application of Distance Geometry are reported. These advances were developed with the application to Protein Folding and Drug Design in mind. However, several results are of general interest and are applicable in statistics and the social sciences where the corresponding problems are known as multidimensional scaling. The spectral gradient algorithm is proposed as an alternate method to the majorization algorithm for solving the metric stress problem. The ALS Algorithm that is used to determine molecular conformations is similar to the alternating least squares approach used in nonmetric multidimensional scaling. Several theorems relating geometric structure and the properties of distance matrices are explored. These include a geometrical characterization of the structures which comprise a face of the cone of Euclidean distance matrices. The structure of Euclidean matrices which arise from points which lie on the surface of a hypersphere are investigated.
Targets for repair: detecting and quantifying DNA damage with fluorescence-based methodologies.

Detection and characterization of DNA damage is essential for evaluating genotoxicity, monitoring DNA repair, developing biomarkers for exposures, and evaluating the efficacy of chemotherapies. These diverse applications for DNA damage measurements have spurred the continual development and refinement of methodologies for detecting, characterizing, and quantifying DNA damage from isolated DNA and in cells and tissues. Current damage detection methods cover a wide range of techniques from radiolabeling to mass spectrometry, and use of these techniques varies widely based on expense, expertise, and knowledge of adduct formation. More generalizable, easy-to-use methods for detecting and quantifying DNA damage are needed, and there has been an emergence of fluorescence-based methodologies to address this need. Developments in these fluorescence-based strategies are reviewed here.
21st Century FOX: Toward Gene Therapy for the Regulatory T Cell Deficiency Syndrome IPEX.

IPEX is a fatal X-linked autoimmune disorder that results from mutations in the canonical regulatory T cell transcription factor FOXP3. In this issue of Cell Stem Cell, Masiuk et al. (2019) demonstrate an effective and potentially durable approach to eliminate the IPEX phenotype in murine models.
Successful management of epithelial ingrowth after sequential intracameral 5-fluorouracil and Descemet-stripping automated endothelial keratoplasty.

To describe the successful treatment of epithelial ingrowth using combined surgical excision with intracameral adjuvant 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) followed by Descemet-stripping automated endothelial keratoplasty (DSAEK). A 71-year-old man presented with epithelial ingrowth after clear corneal phacoemulsification. He underwent surgical excision of the membrane together with pars plana vitrectomy, air fluid exchange, and intracameral 5-FU. This treatment resulted in corneal decompensation for which DSAEK was performed 6 months later. Despite interface haze, the postoperative corrected distance visual acuity returned to 20/40 three months after DSAEK. There was no clinical evidence of recurrence of the epithelial ingrowth 9 months after the surgical removal. Intracameral 5-FU can be used in conjunction with surgical excision and subsequent DSAEK to successfully treat epithelial ingrowth.
Defining “Place” and Understanding the Relationship Between Geographic Areas and Statistical Data: An Exercise in Population Geography and In-Field Observation

Before we can study the demographics and other characteristics of a place, we need to know its location and extent. “Place” is a central concept in geography. Geographers focus considerable attenti...
The neural basis of approach-avoidance conflict: A model based analysis

Approach-avoidance conflict arises when the drives to pursue reward and avoid harm are incompatible. Previous neuroimaging studies of approach-avoidance conflict have shown large variability in reported neuroanatomical correlates. These prior studies have generally neglected to account for potential sources of variability, such as individual differences in choice preferences and modeling of hemodynamic response during conflict. In the present study, we controlled for these limitations using a hierarchical Bayesian model (HBM). This enabled us to measure participant-specific per-trial estimates of conflict during an approach-avoidance task. We also employed a variable epoch method to identify brain structures specifically sensitive to conflict. In a sample of 28 human participants, we found that only a limited set of brain structures [inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC), and right pre-supplementary motor area (pre-SMA)] are specifically correlated with approach-avoidance conflict. These findings suggest that controlling for previous sources of variability increases the specificity of the neuroanatomical correlates of approach-avoidance conflict.
Polylithic Integration of 2.5D and 3D Chiplets Using Interconnect Stitching

This paper explores polylithic integration of heterogeneous dice (chiplets) for high-density electronic systems. In this approach, stitch-chips are used to enable 2.5D integration by providing dense signal pathways between assembled 'anchor chips,' while surface-embedded chips provide 3D face-to-face electrical interconnection with corresponding anchor chips. Multi-height Compressible MicroInterconnects (CMIs) are used to enable low-loss and mechanically robust interfaces between the anchor chips and the stitch-chips as well as the surface-embedded chips. Fabrication and assembly of a testbed is reported and demonstrates robust interconnection. In an effort to characterize the CMIs and stitch-chip channels at high-frequency, electromagnetic simulations are carried out and demonstrate less than 0.6 dB insertion loss for 90 µm tall CMIs and 500 µm long channels on a fused silica stitch-chip.
Price as a Signal of Product Availability: Is it Cheap?

Firms have more information than their customers about the availability of the product. Given the increase in the strategic nature of customers, who consider both prices with future availability risk in making their purchase decisions, the firm may be interested in communicating this information to customers to impact the timing of their purchase. In this paper, we study whether firms can indeed use prices to signal product availability information to their customers. We prove that a signaling or separating equilibrium always exists in which prices perfectly communicate the product availability. Further, we find conditions on the model primitives for which separation is costly, in particular, the firm must price differently from its full information price to signal its product availability.
Firearm access and adolescent health: Safety in numbers?

Abstract Access to firearms and perceived unsafe school environments are associated with negative adolescent health outcomes. Whether widespread acceptance of firearms alters these associations, however, is unknown. To address this literature gap, we examined whether peer acceptance of firearms moderates associations between personal firearm access and health outcomes. In 2018–2019, we analyzed Wave I of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (collected 1994–1995) to assess personal firearm access and school-level percentage of firearm access, using weighted multilevel analyses with interactions to determine associations among personal access, school-level percentage of access, and adolescent depression, suicidality, general health, and perceived school safety. Models controlled for age, sex, race, region, urbanicity, family structure, parental income and education level, school type, school size, and school quality. Results showed that personal firearm access was associated with depression (OR 1.20 p = 0.03), suicidal ideation (OR 1.73, p
18F-FDG Radiosynthesis: A Landmark in the History of PET (perspective on “Efficient Stereospecific Synthesis of No-Carrier-Added 2-[18F]fluoro-2-Deoxy-D-Glucose Using Aminopolyether Supported Nucleophilic Substitution” J Nucl Med. 1986;27:235–238)

Virtually all of the brain’s energy derives from glucose metabolism. This underpins the development of 18F-FDG, a radiotracer that was first used to measure regional brain glucose utilization in humans, and has had a profound influence on research in the neurosciences ([1][1]). The subsequent
486. Understanding Public Perception of COVID-19 Social Distancing on Twitter

Background: Managing and changing public opinion and behavior are vital for social distancing to successfully slow transmission of COVID-19, preserve hospital resources, and prevent overwhelming the healthcare system's resources We sought to leveraging organic, large-scale discussion on Twitter about social distancing to understand public's beliefs and opinions on this policy Methods: Between March 27 and April 10, 2020, we sampled 574,903 English tweets that matched the two most trending social distancing hashtags at the time, #socialdistancing and #stayathome We used natural language processing techniques to conduct a sentiment analysis that identifies tweet polarity and emotions We also evaluated the subjectivity of tweets and estimated the frequency of discussion of social distancing rules We then identified clusters of discussion using topic modeling and compared the sentiment by topic Results: There was net positive sentiment toward both #socialdistancing and #stayathome with mean sentiment scores of 0 150 (standard deviation [SD], 0 292) and 0 144 (SD, 0 287) respectively Tweets were also more likely to be objective (median, 0 40;IQR, 0 to 0 6) with approximately 30% of all tweets labeled as completely objective Approximately half (50 4%) of all tweets primarily expressed joy and one-fifth expressed fear and surprise each (Figure 1) These trends correlated well with topic clusters identified by frequency including leisure activities and community support (i e , joy), concerns about food insecurity and effects of the quarantine (i e , fear), and unpredictability of COVID and its unforeseen implications (i e , surprise) (Table 1) Conclusion: The positive sentiment, preponderance of objective tweets, and topics supporting coping mechanisms led us to believe that Twitter users generally supported social distancing measures in the early stages of their implementation (Table Presented)
Ciberjornalismo: muito mais do que notícias no formato digital

O ensaio analisa quatro das diferencas mais importantes do ciberjornalismo frente ao jornalismo convencional. Primeiramente, o trabalho pratico e os metodos de producao dos jornalistas diferem-se na arena cibernetica, particularmente no que diz respeito a novas ferramentas e tecnicas, incluindo a possibilidade de pesquisas e relatorios online, drones e sensores em rede (a Internet das Coisas, por exemplo), bem como o aumento de automacao das noticias, o que envolve algoritmos, bancos de dados e inteligencia artificial (IA). Segundo, o ciberjornalismo traz mudancas na estrutura, no sistema e na natureza organizacional da industria de noticias, incluindo fatores economicos, regulatorios e legais. Terceiro, o relacionamento entre a midia e o publico esta em mutacao, especialmente no campo das midias sociais e do chamado jornalismo cidadao. Por fim, o surgimento da midia experimental tem dado origem a novas e mais envolventes formas de construcao de conteudos e de narrativas, incluindo a realidade aumentada (RA) e a realidade virtual (RV).
Collaborative Creation of Regional Opioid-Prescribing Guidelines in Orthopaedics: Description of a Process, Measurement of Its Effectiveness, and Impact on Patient Satisfaction at a Participating Institution.

Background Interventions designed to decrease opioid prescribing in orthopaedics have been effective when employed by specific institutions, subspecialties, and procedures. The objectives of this study were to examine the effectiveness of developing regional guidelines on opioid-prescribing practices after common orthopaedic surgical procedures, to determine whether compliance with the guidelines varied by procedure, and to measure the effect of the guidelines on patient satisfaction. All objectives were assessed at 1 participating institution. Methods In February 2018, 53 orthopaedic surgeons representing 8 practices in Western New York attended a summit meeting to collaboratively create regional opioid-prescribing guidelines for 70 common orthopaedic procedures; these guidelines were later distributed electronically to all orthopaedists in Western New York. We retrospectively examined opioid-prescribing practices for adults undergoing an orthopaedic surgical procedure performed by 1 large practice in October 2017, 4 months before the summit meeting (776 patients), and in July 2018, 5 months after the summit meeting (653 patients). The number of opioid pills prescribed postoperatively and patient satisfaction were compared before and after the summit meeting using t tests. Results The overall mean number of opioid pills (and standard deviation) prescribed postoperatively decreased from 69.5 ± 45.5 pills before the summit to 43.3 ± 28.0 pills after the summit (p < 0.0001). Sports medicine surgeons reduced the number of pills prescribed for anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction, arthroscopic rotator cuff repair, knee arthroscopy with meniscectomy, and shoulder arthroscopy with decompression; and adult reconstruction surgeons reduced the number of pills prescribed for total hip and knee arthroplasty. There was no change in the number of pills prescribed for lumbar spine fusion or implant removal. Satisfaction with the provider did not differ from before to after the summit; 75% of patients in the pre-summit group and 76% of patients in the post-summit group reported receiving excellent service (p = 0.62). Conclusions The creation of regional opioid-prescribing guidelines in a collaborative fashion was assessed at 1 participating institution and was found to be effective at reducing the number of opioid pills prescribed by the orthopaedic surgeons participating in the project without affecting patient satisfaction, but adherence to the guidelines varied by procedure.
Nearly exact solution for coupled continuum/MD fluid simulation

A general statistical approach is described to couple the continuum with molecular dynamics in fluid simulation. Arbitrary thermodynamic field boundary conditions can be imposed on an MD system while minimally disturbing the particle dynamics of the system. And by acting away from the region of interest through a feedback control mechanism, across a buffer zone where the disturbed dynamics are allowed to relax, we can eliminate that disturbance entirely. The field estimator, based on maximum likelihood inference, serves as the detector of the control loop, which infers smooth instantaneous fields from the particle data. The optimal particle controller, defined by an implicit relation, can be proved mathematically to give the correct distribution with least disturbance to the dynamics. A control algorithm compares the estimated current fields with the desired fields at the boundary and modifies the action of the particle controller far way, until they eventually agree. This method, combined with a continuum code in a Schwarz iterative domain-decomposition formalism, provides a mutually consistent solution for steady-state problems, as particles in the MD region of interest have no way to tell any difference from reality. Finally, we explain the importance of using a higher order single-particle distribution function, in light of the Chapman–Enskog development for shear flow.
An attacker's view of distance preserving maps for privacy preserving data mining

We examine the effectiveness of distance preserving transformations in privacy preserving data mining. These techniques are potentially very useful in that some important data mining algorithms can be efficiently applied to the transformed data and produce exactly the same results as if applied to the original data e.g. distance-based clustering, k-nearest neighbor classification. However, the issue of how well the original data is hidden has, to our knowledge, not been carefully studied. We take a step in this direction by assuming the role of an attacker armed with two types of prior information regarding the original data. We examine how well the attacker can recover the original data from the transformed data and prior information. Our results offer insight into the vulnerabilities of distance preserving transformations.
Partiality and Its Dual

This paper explores allowing truth value assignments to be undetermined or "partial" (no truth values) and overdetermined or "inconsistent" (both truth values), thus returning to an investigation of the four-valued semantics that I initiated in the sixties. I examine some natural consequence relations and show how they are related to existing logics, including Łukasiewicz's three-valued logic, Kleene's three-valued logic, Anderson and Belnap's (first-degree) relevant entailments, Priest's "Logic of Paradox", and the first-degree fragment of the Dunn-McCall system "R-mingle". None of these systems have nested implications, and I investigate twelve natural extensions containing nested implications, all of which can be viewed as coming from natural variations on Kripke's semantics for intuitionistic logic. Many of these logics exist antecedently in the literature, in particular Nelson's "constructible falsity".
A Novel Feature Selection Method for Fault Diagnosis

A new method for automated feature selection is introduced. The application domain of this technique is fault diagnosis, where robust features are needed for modeling the wear level and therefore diagnosing it accurately. A robust feature in this field is one that exhibits a strong correlation with the wear level. The proposed method aims at selecting such robust features, while at the same time ascertain that they are as weakly correlated to each other as possible. The results of this technique on the extracted features for a real-world problem appear to be promising. It is possible to make use of the proposed technique for other feature selection applications, with minor adjustments to the original algorithm.
IL-1β Promotes the Differentiation of Polyfunctional Human CCR6+CXCR3+ Th1/17 Cells That Are Specific for Pathogenic and Commensal Microbes

In humans, Th1/17 cells, identified by coexpression of the chemokine receptors CCR6 and CXCR3, are proposed to be highly pathogenic in several autoimmune disorders due in part to their expression of the proinflammatory cytokines IL-17, IFN-γ, and GM-CSF. However, their developmental requirements, relationship with “classic” Th17 and Th1 cells and physiological role in normal immune responses are not well understood. In this study, we examined CCR6 + CXCR3 + Th1/17 cells from healthy individuals and found that ex vivo these cells produced the effector cytokines IL-17, IL-22, and IFN-γ in all possible combinations and were highly responsive to both IL-12 and IL-23. Moreover, although the Ag specificity of CCR6 + CXCR3 + Th1/17 cells showed substantial overlap with that of Th1 and Th17 cells, this population was enriched in cells recognizing certain extracellular bacteria and expressing the intestinal homing receptor integrin β 7 . Finally, we identified IL-1β as a key cytokine that renders Th17 cells sensitive to IL-12, and both cytokines together potently induced the differentiation of cells that produce IL-17, IFN-γ, and GM-CSF. Therefore, interfering with IL-1β and IL-12 signaling in Th17 cells during inflammation may be a promising therapeutic approach to reduce their differentiation into “pathogenic” CCR6 + CXCR3 + Th1/17 cells in patients with autoimmune diseases.
Eigenfunctions of the Weil representation of unitary groups of one variable

In this paper, we construct explicit eigenfunctions of the local Weil representation on unitary groups of one variable in the p-adic case when p is odd. The idea is to use the lattice model, and the results will be used to compute special values of certain Hecke L-functions in separate papers. We also recover Moen’s results on when a local theta lifting from U(1) to itself does not vanish. 0. Introduction and Notation Let E/F be a quadratic extension of local fields. If (V, ( , )) is an Hermitian space over E, and (W, 〈 , 〉) is a skew-Hermitian space over E, the unitary groups G = G(W ) and G′ = G(V ) form a reductive dual pair in Sp(W), where W = V ⊗W has the symplectic form 12 trE/F ( , ) ⊗ 〈 , 〉 over F . According to a well-known result, this dual pair splits in the metaplectic cover of Sp(W), and thus has a Weil representation ω. We consider the very special case in which dimE V = dimEW = 1. In this case, G ∼= G′ = U(1) = E is compact and abelian, where E is the kernel of the norm map N : E∗ −→ F ∗. So irreducible representations of G are just characters, and the Weil representation has a direct sum decomposition:
Were There Elephant Hunters at Torralba

In recent years there has been growing skepticism among some students of the pre-Sapiens sapiens hominids that the earlier romantic views, which pictured early man as a mighty hunter, are an accurate construction of the past. In fact, the trend in much recent work has been to modify this view and to see as unwarranted much of the evidence previously cited in support of the “mighty hunter” view of the past. Some have begun the serious investigation of the distinct possibility that early man was more commonly a scavenger of animal carcasses than a successful predator. This view, while seriously discussed for the pre-Homo erectus hominids, has not been popularly adopted for the investigation of Homo erectus himself. In fact, many theorists consider Homo erectus to be the author of what is referred to as the “hunting way of life” and believe that this shift may in fact stand behind the species’ successful radiation into new environmental zones (Shipman 1984).
New destinations, new trajectories? The educational progress of Hispanic youth in North Carolina.

Since 1990, Latin American immigrants to the United States have dispersed beyond traditional gateway regions to a number of “new destinations.” Both theory and past empirical evidence provide mixed guidance as to whether the children of these immigrants are adversely affected by residing in a nontraditional destination. This study uses administrative public school data to study over 2,800 8- to 18-year-old Hispanic youth in one new destination, North Carolina. Conditional on third-grade socioeconomic indicators, Hispanic youth who arrive by age 9 and remain enrolled in North Carolina public schools close achievement gaps with socioeconomically similar White students by sixth grade and exhibit significantly lower high school dropout rates. Their performance resembles that of first-generation youth in more established immigration gateways.
Hyperspectral microwave atmospheric sounder (HyMAS) - New capability in the CoSMIR/CoSSIR scanhead

MIT Lincoln Laboratory and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center have teamed to adapt an existing instrument platform, the CoSMIR/CoSSIR system for atmospheric sensing, to develop and demonstrate a new capability in a hyperspectral microwave atmospheric sounder (HyMAS). This new sensor comprises a highly innovative intermediate frequency processor (IFP), that provides the filtering and digitization of 52 radiometric channels and the interoperable remote component (IRC) adapted to CoSMIR, CoSSIR, and HyMAS that stores and archives the data with time tagged calibration and navigation data.
Phase I and pharmacologic study of topotecan: a novel topoisomerase I inhibitor.

Results: At doses of 1.5 and 2.0 mg/m', grade 3 and 4 neutropenia occurred in most courses; however, neutropenia was brief and rarely associated with fevers or treatment delays. Neutropenia was more severe in patients with extensive prior treatment than in minimally pretreated patients, but these differences were not substantial. At 2.5 mg/m2, topotecan induced profound and prolonged neutropenia that was frequently associated with fever and treatment delays in minimally pretreated patients. Topotecan also induced mild depressions in the rTOPOTECAN (SKF 104864), a semisynthetic watersoluble analog of camptothecin, is the first topoisomerase I-targeting agent to enter clinical cancer trials since the limited clinical development of sodium camptothecin in the early 1970s. Topoisomerase I-targeting drugs stabilize a covalent DNA-topoisomerase I complex to yield enzyme-linked DNA single-strand breaks." 6 Topoisomerase I possesses several characteristics that may be relevant to its potential use as a strategic target in cancer therapy. First, its presence in relatively high levels in both proliferating and quiescent cells suggests that its function may be independent of cellular growth rate and that topoisomerase I-targeting drugs may be active in slow-growing as well as rapidly proliferating tumors. 7 '" There is also evidence indicating that the regulation of topoisomerase I is altered in neoplastic cells, which suggests a selective cytotoxic advantage for these agents in malignant tissues compared with normal tissues. For example, cells from colon tumors have been shown to contain higher intracellular levels of topoisomerase I than normal mucosal cells." 1 Topotecan demonstrated broad antitumor activity in preclinical studies. Although topotecan was twofold less active than camptothecin against L1210 cells in vitro (concentration inhibiting 50% of growth [ICs0s], 23 v 56 hematocrit level in the majority of courses; however, precipitous drops requiring transfusional therapy occurred in 14% of courses and suggested a drug-induced hemolytic effect. Unlike sodium camptothecin, hemorrhagic cystitis was not observed. Thrombocytopenia, skin rash, diarrhea, and vomiting occurred infrequently and were modest in severity. Responses were observed in non-small-cell lung carcinoma and platinum-refractory ovarian carcinoma. Drug disposition in plasma was described by a biexponential model, with renal elimination accounting for 38.7% of drug disposition. Topotecan was rapidly hydrolyzed in vivo to a less active, open-ring form. Conclusions: Neutropenia is the dose-limiting toxicity, and 1.5 mg/m' is the recommended starting dose of topotecan for both minimally and heavily pretreated patients in future phase II trials, with escalation to 2.0 mg/m 2 if treatment is well tolerated. Non-small-cell lung and platinum-refractory ovarian carcinomas should be among those evaluated in phase II trials of topotecan. J Clin Oncol 10:647-656. © 1992 by American Society of Clinical Oncology.
Effects of natural shade on soybean thylakoid membrane composition.

The effect of natural shade on chloroplast thylakoid membrane activity and composition was examined for soybean (Glycine Max. cv. Young) grown under field conditions. Plots with high (10 plants m−1 row) or low (1 plant m−1 row) plant density were established. Expanding leaves were tagged at 50, 58 and 65 days after planting (DAP). At 92 DAP, tagged leaves were used as reference points to characterize canopy light environments and isolate thylakoid membranes. Light environments ranged from a photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD) of 87% of full sun to a PPFD of 10% of full sun. The decline in PPFD was accompanied by an increase in the far-red/red (735 nm/645 nm) ratio from 0.9 to approximately six. The major effects of shade on chloroplast thylakoid membranes were a reduction in chloroplast coupling factor and a shift in light-harvesting capacity from Photosystem I to Photosystem II. Photosynthetic electron transport capacity was not affected by differences in PPFD, but was 20 to 30% higher in the 1 plant m−1 row treatment. The plant density effect on electron transport was associated with differences in plastocyanin concentration, suggesting that plastocyanin is a limiting factor in soybean. Shade did not have a significant effect on the concentration of Photosystem II, Cyt b6f, or Photosystem I complexes.
Prior knowledge of obstetric gestational age and possible bias of Ballard score.

Abstract Objective: To determine whether prior knowledge of obstetric estimate of gestational age creates a bias in assignment of gestational age by the Ballard assessment score. Methods: The Ballard assessment score was done on 82 infants weighing less than 2500 g by two examiners, one who had prior knowledge of best obstetric gestational age estimate and the other who was masked to that information. Obstetric gestational age was correlated with masked and unmasked score. Statistical analysis used Spearman rank correlation test, plotting the measurement means against the measurement differences, χ 2 , Wilcoxon signed-rank test, analysis of variance, and Student t test. Significance was assumed at P Results: There was high reliability ( r = 0.84–0.86) between obstetric gestational age estimates (33.3 ± 3.0 weeks) and the gestational age derived from masked (34.3 ± 3.0 weeks) and unmasked (34.0 ± 3.0 weeks) Ballard scores. The mean difference between unmasked scores and gestational age was 1.38 ± 1.15 weeks and that between masked scores and obstetric gestational age was 1.40 ± 1.15 weeks, a nonsignificant difference. There was no significant difference in the number of cases with 100% agreement between masked and unmasked scores and obstetric gestational age or in the number of cases in which the score (masked or unmasked) differed by more than 2 weeks from obstetric gestational age. This study had over 99% power to detect a 1-week difference between the accuracy of masked and unmasked scores. Conclusion: Prior knowledge of obstetric gestational age did not bias the Ballard assessment score.
Extracellular zinc induces phosphoethanolamine addition to Pseudomonas aeruginosa lipid A via the ColRS two-component system

Gram-negative bacteria survive harmful environmental stressors by modifying their outer membrane. Much of this protection is afforded upon remodeling of the lipid A region of the major surface molecule lipopolysaccharide (LPS). For example, the addition of cationic substituents, such as 4-amino-4-deoxy-L-arabinose (L-Ara4N) and phosphoehthanolamine (pEtN) at the lipid A phosphate groups, is often induced in response to specific environmental flux stabilizing the outer membrane. The work herein represents the first report of pEtN addition to Pseudomonas aeruginosa lipid A. We have identified the key pEtN transferase which we named EptAPa and characterized its strict activity on only one position of lipid A, contrasting from previously studied EptA enzymes. We further show that transcription of eptAP a is regulated by zinc via the ColRS two-component system instead of the PmrAB system responsible for eptA regulation in E. coli and Salmonella enterica. Further, although L-Ara4N is readily added to the same position of lipid A as pEtN under certain environmental conditions, ColR specifically induces pEtN addition to lipid A in lieu of L-Ara4N when Zn2+ is present. The unique, specific regulation of eptAP a transcription and enzymatic activity described in this work demonstrates the tight yet inducible control over LPS modification in P. aeruginosa.
Infrared Observations of G0.18–0.04

The Galactic Center H(II) region, G0.18-0.04, the 'Sickle', is located where the nonthermal 'Arc' crosses the Galactic plane. The Sickle appears to be the ionized edge of a dense molecular cloud. The source of ionization has been ascribed to both the interaction of the cloud with the magnetic field of the Arc and to the hot stars in the adjacent cluster, AFGL 2004, also known as the 'Quintuplet Cluster'. This paper addresses the relative locations of the stars, the ionized and molecular gas, and the sources of gas excitation and dust heating. Using NASA's Kuiper Airborne Observatory, we have observed the far infrared forbidden lines of [S(III)] 18.7 and 33.5 micrometers, [Si(II)] 34.8 micrometers, [Ne(III)] 36.0 micrometers, [O(III)] 51.8 and 88.4 micrometers, [N(III)] 57.3 micrometers, [O(II)] 63.2 and 146 micrometers, [C(II)] 158 micrometers, and [N(II)] 205 micrometers and the adjacent continua at 11 positions around G0.18-0.04, including G0.15-0.05, the 'Pistol', in a beamsize of 40 - 60 arcsec. The electron density, the ionic abundances, and the ionization structure of the H(II) region are estimated from the doubly ionized line fluxes. The density and radiation field found in the photodissociation region (PDR) between the H(II) region and the molecular cloud are estimated from the [C(II)] and [O(I)] line fluxes and the far-infrared continuum. We compare the ionization structure and the PDR properties to shell models of H(II) regions with varying distances from their exciting stars. The agreement of observations and models indicates that the hot stars of AFGL 2004 are the likely source of ionization of the Sickle. Additional hot stars are necessary to ionize the more outlying positions. However, because of its low ionization and high PDR radiation field, the Pistol cannot be as close to AFGL 2004 as indicated by its close proximity on the sky. Instead, the Pistol is probably ionized by the luminous blue variable candidate, Pistol Source A. We estimated the extinction to the region from the distribution of the J, H, and K' magnitudes of the stars in the field that we measured from the Anglo-Australian telescope and from the IRAS LRS spectrum of AFGL 2004. The extinction is fairly uniform, with no enhancement from the molecular cloud. The strength of Brackett gamma, the 19-micrometer lines and continuum, and the IRAS 25-micrometer continuum are all consistent with the absence of a dense, foreground molecular cloud. We conclude that the H(II) region is on the near side of the dense cloud.
Determination of Rainfall Rates from GOES Satellite Images by a Pattern Recognition Technique

Abstract Radiances from clouds observed in visible and infrared images obtained from the SMS-2, GOES-2, and GOES-4 satellites have been used to estimate rainfall by means of a pattern recognition algorithm that was applied to single images. The algorithm classified rain into three classes: 0—no rain (0 ≤ R <0.5 mm h−1); 1—light rain (0.5 ≤ R <0.5 mm h−1); and 2—heavy rain (5.0 mm h−1≤ R). The rainfall rates used in the training set and those used to test the algorithm were derived from a set of twenty-nine Plan Position Indicator (PPI) displays obtained from NOAA operational radars. Data were derived from summer storms, tropical storms and cyclones. Rainfall from precipitating clouds was classified by a pattern recognition technique that used textural and radiance features in a hierarchic decision tree. The analysis was applied to regions 20 × 20 km in area that were measured in the visible spectral region with 1 × 1 km and 2 × 2 km resolution and in the infrared with 4 × 8 km resolution. The radiance fea...
Business Compilers: towards supporting a highly re-configurable architectural style for service-oriented architecture

Grammar-oriented Object design (GOOD) externalizes the manners of enterprise-scale components using a business domain-specific language. This implementation of manners models the flow and constraints on a set of collaborating enterprise components.A Business Compiler (BC) executes manners of components specified in the business domain-specific language; supporting a highly re-configurable architectural style. The BC is a software asset that can be used to define, parse and execute business flow languages. This provides various advantages including the ability to animate and execute the collaboration of components reflecting the business process steps defined by business modeler. Architects enhance the grammar with component services that serve as actions in the grammar. The combination of flow definition by modelers and component services by software architects provides a powerful collaborative environment for enabling the incremental creation of a highly re-configurable architectural style.This tool (Business Compiler) is the result of harvesting a set of software assets from multiple projects into an API and a GUI front end that helps modelers by providing dynamic documentation and animation of and can be used to drive business flow for highly adaptive and re-configurable software architectures.
The Comprehensive Pacific Rainfall Database

Abstract This paper describes the Comprehensive Pacific Rainfall Database (PACRAIN), which contains daily and monthly precipitation records from the tropical Pacific basin. The database is a collection of observations from a variety of sources, including one, the Schools of the Pacific Rainfall Climate Experiment (SPaRCE), that is unique to PACRAIN. SPaRCE is a cooperative field project and involves schools from various Pacific island and atoll nations. Recent enhancements to the database, including improved quality control, observation and data entry standardization, expansion of the network, increased collaboration with local meteorological directors, and enhanced high-resolution data (e.g., on hourly or minute time scales), are discussed. This paper also outlines some of the internal data and Web-based access specifics of the database. To illustrate the potential usefulness of the data, two examples of research using the PACRAIN database are provided and discussed. The first is an analysis of temporal ...
Testing Protocol for Experimental Seismic Qualification of Distributed Nonstructural Systems

Building codes and standards now require seismic qualification of mechanical and electrical equipment and their mounting systems in important buildings to ensure that they remain functional during ...
Ion implantation and diffusion for electrical junction formation in HgCdTe

Ion implantation in HgCdTe is a well-established approach for fabricating IR- sensitive photovoltaic devices with n-on-p type junctions. The technique typically uses ion implantation of light species (usually B) to form the n region by the diffusion of irradiation-induced defects, including Hg atoms, in the material doped by Hg-vacancy acceptors. Also, the approach to form electrical junctions by the classical technique of ion implantation for chemical doping followed by the diffusion and activation of the implanted species has been demonstrated. This paper focuses mainly on p-type extrinsic doping with As diffusion from an ion implanted source.
CalRadio: a portable, flexible 802.11 wireless research platform

We present CalRadio, a exible 802.11b wireless platform developed at UCSD for research and evaluation of 802.11 MAC protocols, as well as the methods we used to isolate desired field test data from undesirable factors such as interference, and possible metrics we can use to evaluate network performance. CalRadio's purpose is to be a low-cost exible wireless research platform that can be reconfigured easily and quickly depending on the needs of the researcher.
Perceptions of students towards cooperative learning in undergraduate management information systems: exploratory quantitative analyses

This paper reports the findings of implementing a cooperative learning method in an undergraduate "core" Management Information Systems course taken by business students with diverse backgrounds and interests. The results confirmed the effectiveness of cooperative learning but also showed interesting findings of students' perception of the method. The paper also reports factors identified by students that might be detrimental to the successful use of cooperative learning. When planning to employ cooperative learning in their teaching, instructors can take into account those factors to improve their implementation of cooperative learning.
Incentive stackelberg strategies for deterministic multi-stage decision processes

In this paper, we formulate a general incentive Stackelberg dynamic game problem with informational advantage to the leader at each stage of the decision process, which involves partial observation of the follower's decisions. Under a feedback Stackelberg solution concept adapted to this information pattern, some general results on the existence and construction of optimal incentive strategies are obtained, and the derivation of optimal affine policies is discussed. The paper also deals with the global Stackelberg solution in discrete and continuous-time games, and obtains conditions for the existence of causal, physically realizable solutions, in terms of the gradients of the cost functionals evaluated at the optimum operating point.
The glial identity of neural stem cells

Glia are the most numerous cells in the brain, and their many diverse functions highlight their essential role in the nervous system. Recent studies have revealed an unexpected new role for glia in a wide variety of species, that of stem cells/progenitors in the adult and embryonic brain. Differentiation along the glial lineage may be a default state of development reflected in the progression of stem cells along the neuroepithelial-->radial glia-->astrocyte lineage.