cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The emergent personologist: the structure and content of 3 1/2-, 5 1/2-, and 7 1/2-year-olds' concepts of themselves and other persons.

This study was based on the premise that personological conceptions are based in memory; hence age-related changes observed in memory should also be found for children's concepts of persons. Of particular interest was the general and specific temporal structure of children's concepts. 72 3 1/2-, 5 1/2-, and 7 1/2-year-old children were asked general and specific questions about the behaviors and internal states of themselves, their best friends, and an acquaintance. General questions were about typical and/or frequent events and were not located in a particular point in time (e.g., "What have you usually done in school?"); specific questions were temporally located (e.g., "What did you do in school today?"). Behavior questions concerned activities and involved action verbs; trait questions concerned internal states and involved adjectives. Responses were coded into the same 4 mutually exclusive categories of General Behavior, General Trait, Specific Behavior, Specific Trait as the question categories. The proportion of specific responses about persons increased reliably from 3 1/2 to 5 1/2 years, whereas the proportion of general responses was high and did not differ across the age groups. Furthermore, the proportion of trait, but not behavior, descriptions provided increased between 3 1/2 and 7 1/2 years. The results indicate that even young children have concepts of themselves and other persons that are not restricted to specific points in time and thus may form the basis for later dispositional conceptions.
Abstraction of polychronous dataflow specifications into mode-automata

For reactive embedded software - designed by composing existing reactive components - ensuring correctness is not straightforward. The possibility of deadlock across components, mismatch in temporal behaviors at the connected interface signals, etc., could lead to non-reactivity or subtle bugs. Behavioral interface theories have been proposed for checking compatibility of components when reactive modules are being composed. Depending on the models of computation, various intermediate notions of behavioral interfaces may be defined. In the case of polychronous components, the clock relations and the data dependencies at the interfaces are usually used for checking compatibility. However, if the behavior of a component is time variant, these abstractions are insufficient to establish correctness of composition. To capture time varying behavior, we propose to add an automaton based abstraction based on predicates abstraction. This paper describes the extraction of the abstraction, along with proofs of equivalence and the description of a practical implementation of the technique.
Developmental origin of interferon-α–producing dendritic cells from hematopoietic precursors

Objective The aim of this study was to determine the lineage origin of interferon-α–producing cells (IPCs), also called plasmacytoid dendritic cells, in mice by evaluating the ability of common lymphoid (CLP) and myeloid (CMP) progenitors to give rise to IPCs. Materials and Methods Sublethally irradiated C57Bl/6 mice were intravenously transplanted with rigorously purified lymphoid and myeloid progenitors from a congenic mouse strain. At various time points posttransplantation mice were analyzed for donor-derived cells by flow cytometry. The developmental potential of all progenitor populations was also tested in in vitro cultures. In addition, in vitro and in vivo derived IPCs were functionally assessed for their interferon-α production after virus challenge. Results Transplantation of 1 × 10 4 common myeloid progenitors, 1 × 10 4 common lymphoid progenitors or 2.5 × 10 4 granulocyte/macrophage progenitors all led to the generation of IPCs within 2 to 3 weeks. In general, IPC reconstitution in spleen and liver by CMPs was more efficient than by CLP. Adding Flt3L alone to in vitro cultures was sufficient to support the development of IPCs from myeloid progenitors whereas CLPs required additional survival factors provided either by stroma cells or by introduction of transgenic Bcl-2. Both myeloid- and lymphoid-derived IPC were indistinguishable by function, gene expression, and morphology. Conclusion Surprisingly, our results clearly show that murine IPCs differentiate from both lineages but are mainly of myeloid origin. These results extend to IPCs the observation made originally in classical dendritic cells that cellular expression of so called lineage markers does not correlate with lineal origin.
Fine-resolution mapping of soil organic carbon based on multivariate secondary data

Abstract Our objective was to quantify the improvement in fine-resolution maps of soil organic carbon stock (CS, Mg C ha − 1 ) resulting from utilizing multivariate sources of secondary information. Different geostatistical techniques for mapping CS in the top 0.3 m of soil with or without secondary information were assessed in three large no-till fields (49 to 65 ha) in Nebraska, which were sampled at a density of 3.9 to 4.2 samples ha − 1 . Geostatistical methods evaluated were ordinary kriging (OK), co-kriging (COK), kriging with external drift (KED), and regression kriging (RK). Ancillary variables assumed to provide indirect information on spatial patterns of CS included maps of soil series, surface reflectance derived from satellite images (REF), relative elevation (EL), and soil electrical conductivity (EC). Root mean square error (RMSE) of CS predicted by OK ranged from 10.8 to 12.5 Mg C ha − 1 for the three sites. Methods that utilized secondary information reduced the RMSE by 5% to 38% compared to OK. Relative improvements in map accuracy were highest (16% to 38%) in multivariate regression kriging approaches, which also performed better than COK, KED, or RK methods that utilized only one ancillary variable. The relative gain from incorporating secondary information increased with decreasing sampling density. Reducing sampling intensity of CS to one half of the original samples increased the bias and RMSE of maps of CS produced by OK, whereas no or only little loss of map accuracy occurred in RK. Among the hybrid methods tested, RK performed best in terms of consistently increasing map accuracy and flexible modeling of the multivariate relationships between CS and secondary information. Among the ancillary variables, EC was most useful for CS mapping. Terrain attributes had limited value at the three study sites, while the value of REF depended on the surface conditions at the time of image acquisition. To reduce uncertainties, we recommend using independently measured, multivariate secondary information in RK approaches for mapping of soil organic carbon.
Synthesis and Antiviral Evaluation of Polyhalogenated Imidazole Nucleosides: Dimensional Analogues of 2,5,6-Trichloro-1-(β-d-ribofuranosyl)benzimidazole

A series of polyhalogenated imidazole nucleosides were designed and synthesized as ring-contracted analogues of 2,5,6-trichloro-1-(beta-D-ribofuranosyl)benzimidazole (TCRB) and its 2-bromo analogue (BDCRB) in an effort to explore the spatial limitation of the active pocket(s) in the target protein(s). 2,4,5-Trichloro-, 2-bromo-4,5-dichloro-, and 2,4,5-tribromoimidazole nucleosides were prepared by a condensation of the preformed heterocycles with the appropriate sugar precursors. The ribofuranosyl and xylofuranosyl analogues were prepared by a direct glycosylation using the Vorbruggen's silylation method and provided exclusively the beta-anomers. The arabinofuranosyl analogues were prepared by the sodium salt method to give both the alpha- and beta-anomers. The absolute configurations were established by 1H NMR spectroscopy. Alkylation of the polyhalogenated imidazoles with the appropriate bromomethyl ethers gave the acyclic acyclovir and ganciclovir analogues. In general, the parent polyhalogenated imidazoles showed some activity against human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) (IC50 approximately 35 microM). However, with the exception of two tribromo analogues (7c, 13c-beta), most of their nucleoside derivatives were inactive against both HCMV and herpes simplex virus type-1 (HSV-1) and were not cytotoxic. The results suggest that the ring-contracted nucleoside analogues of TCRB and BDCRB interacted weakly or not at all with viral and cellular targets.
Panoramic annular lens attitude determination system (PALADS)

Recent advances in the application of panoramic imaging technology have resulted in the design of a single sensor attitude determination system, known as the panoramic annular lens attitude determination system (PALADS). The primary component of the attitude sensor is the panoramic annular lens (PAL), which provides a full hemispherical field of view surrounding the spacecraft. This allows for the simultaneous detection of multiple attitude reference sources, such as the earth and the sun or moon. The position of each reference source in the image plane translates into a viewing angle between the sensor's optical axis and the reference source. The data points associated with the reference sources are extracted from the image plane using digital image processing techniques. The X, Y, Z positional data of the spacecraft must be provided as inputs to PALADS. The extraction of two or more reference points from the image plane leads to the successful determination of three-axis spacecraft attitude.© (1995) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Adaptive Richardson iteration based on Leja points

An adaptive Richardson iteration method is presented for the solution of large linear systems of equations with a sparse symmetric positive definite matrix. The relaxation parameters for Richardson iteration are chosen to be reciprocal values of Leja points for an interval [a, b] on the positive real axis, and the endpoints a and b are determined adaptively by computing certain modified moments during the iterations. Computed examples show that the adaptive Richardson method can be competitive with the conjugate gradient algorithm.
Applications of eigenanalysis in digital imaging microscopy

Eigenanalysis is a powerful mathematical technique for analyzing matrices of data. With a data matrix constructed from a digitized image, this technique can be used to extract the features of the image. As a data processing methodology in image processing, the eigenanalysis is principally used in two ways. The first is to treat a single image as a data matrix. The second is to construct a data matrix from multiple images. In both cases, the input information is separated into mutually orthogonal eigenvectors obtained from the correlation or covariance matrix. Since the resulting eigenvectors are orthogonal, the information in each vector is excluded from all other vectors. Alternatively, the singular value decomposition method can be used to represent the data matrix as sum of its outer products, thus avoiding the construction of a correlation/covariance matrix. Both procedures allow sorting of information according to its significance, because the most significant information is associated with highest eigenvalues and corresponding eigenvectors. Consequently, the original data can be reconstituted and clustered using only the significant information. The advantage of this processing is that the preparatory artifacts of the sample and noise in the image are removed from the data. For applications in biological microscopy, the ultimate objective is to relate various structural patterns in the cell, enhanced by eigenanalysis, to their biological function.© (1990) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Outstanding Female Economists in the Analysis and Practice of Development Economics

Abstract This article examines the contributions of five eminent economists, all women, to the analysis and practice of development economics. Irma Adelman, Frances Stewart, and Nancy Birdsall are leading advocates of alternative development strategies that focus on poverty alleviation and investment in human capital. Anne Krueger and Alice Amsden stand at the forefront of two opposing camps in a lively and long-lasting debate on the appropriate role of government in trade and industrialization. We use the storied careers of these economists as a vehicle to convey the big picture of how development economics has evolved and which topics have proved durable.
Public speaking in a new era

(1930). Public speaking in a new era. Quarterly Journal of Speech: Vol. 16, No. 1, pp. 62-69.
Entropy-Based Framework for Dynamic Coverage and Clustering Problems

We propose a computationally efficient framework to solve a large class of dynamic coverage and clustering problems, ranging from those that arise from deployment of mobile sensor networks to classification of cellular data for diagnosing cancer stages. This framework provides the ability to identify natural clusters in the underlying data set. In particular, we define the problem of minimizing instantaneous coverage as a combinatorial optimization problem in a Maximum Entropy Principle (MEP) framework that we formulate specifically for the dynamic setting, and which allows us to address inherent tradeoffs such as those between the resolution of the identified clusters and computational cost. The proposed MEP framework addresses both the coverage and the tracking aspects of these problems. Locating cluster centers of swarms of moving objects and tracking them is cast as a control design problem ensuring that the algorithm achieves progressively better coverage with time. Simulation results are presented that highlight the features of this framework; these results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm attains target coverage costs five to seven times faster than related frame-by-frame methods.
Automatic selective perception (ASP) of first and second language speech: A working model.

Abstract In this model, speech perception is characterized as a purposeful, information-seeking activity whereby adult listeners detect the most reliable acoustic parameters that specify phonetic segments and sequences in their native language (L1), using highly over-learned selective perception routines. In laboratory perceptual tasks, differentiation of L1 phonetic contrasts is rapid and robust even in suboptimal listening conditions and even when the listeners focus on other levels of language structure, or indeed on another task. In contrast, late second language (L2) learners must employ greater attentional resources in order to extract sufficient information to differentiate phonetic contrasts that do not occur in their native language. Phonetic and phonological modes of speech perception are described, which can be tapped in the laboratory by manipulations of stimulus complexity and task demands. These experimental manipulations reveal complex interactions between the linguistic experience of listeners and phonetic similarity relationships between L1 and L2 phonological inventories. Illustrative experimental evidence from my studies of vowel perception using perceptual assimilation (cross-language identification), speeded discrimination, discrimination in speech babble, and brain indices of discrimination (MMN) are presented to provide operational definitions of these concepts. Similarities and differences from other current theories of cross-language and L2 speech perception are discussed.
Participant transposition in Senegalese oral narrative

This article examines a Senegalese narrative practice in which speakers make co-present individuals into denoted characters in their stories, a process I refer to as “participant transposition.” I analyze participant transposition in illness narratives recorded in Dakar, Senegal, during phases of which I am even recruited to play the part of the narrator's past self. I demonstrate how this narrative practice allows speakers to calibrate the realm of the story (the denotational text) with the storytelling event (the interactional text). (Illness narrative, Transposition, Textuality, Interaction, Senegal)
Olanzapine versus risperidone in the treatment of schizophrenia : a comparison of costs among Texas Medicaid recipients.

Objective: To examine both schizophrenia-related costs and total (schizophrenia plus non-schizophrenia) healthcare costs among Texas Medicaid recipients who had been diagnosed with a schizophrenic disorder and had been initiated on olanzapine or risperidone. Methods: Cost data for services and prescription use were retrieved for 2885 patients with schizophrenia who were initiated on olanzapine or risperidone between 1 January 1997 and 31 August 1998. Each patient was followed for 1 year before and 1 year after initiation of therapy. Multivariate analysis was used to control for a wide range of factors (drug choice, patient demographics, pre-utilisation costs, region, health conditions, and treatment patterns) that may influence schizophrenia-related costs and total healthcare costs. Estimation was conducted via a two-stage instrumental variables model. Results: The mean unadjusted total schizophrenia-related cost per patient per year during the observation period was $US4892, and the total unadjusted healthcare cost per patient was $US7101. Results revealed significant regional variation in schizophrenia-related and total healthcare costs. Significantly higher total healthcare costs were found for patients with other (nonpsychiatric) diagnoses, such as HIV and diabetes mellitus. Although, on average, patients taking olanzapine stayed on therapy longer than those taking risperidone (248.2 days vs 211.1 days; p < 0.0001), multivariate analysis revealed no significant difference in schizophrenia-related costs between patients who received olanzapine and risperidone ($US123 lower with olanzapine; p = 0.6439). However, patients who received olanzapine compared with risperidone had significantly lower total medical costs ($US693 lower with olanzapine; p = 0.0311). Conclusion: This naturalistic study used data from a Texas Medicaid population to examine the schizophrenia-related costs and total healthcare costs for patients who received olanzapine versus risperidone. Multivariate analysis revealed no significant differences in schizophrenia-related costs for patients receiving olanzapine compared with risperidone, although total medical costs were significantly lower for patients initiated on olanzapine.
Light Reinforcement as a Function of Water Deprivation

There are several studies (3, 4, 5 ) which attest to the efficacy of light as a reinforcing stimulus with non-deprived animals. However, Kling, et al. ( 5 ) noted that light presentation did not appear to strengthen bar pressing when the subjects, albino rats, were water deprived. Since his results were based on only four subjects, the present investigation was undertaken in order to examine this relationship with a larger number of subjects. The results of this study indicate that not only does light strengthen bar pressing when the animals are water deprived, but that light is more effective as a reinforcer when the animals are water deprived than when they are not deprived.
On approximate confidence intervals for measures of concordance

The use ofU-statistics based on rank correlation coefficients in estimating the strength of concordance among a group of rankers is examined for cases where the null hypothesis of random rankings is not tenable. The studentizedU-statistics is asymptotically distribution-free, and the Student-t approximation is used for small and moderate sized samples. An approximate confidence interval is constructed for the strength of concordance. Monte Carlo results indicate that the Student-t approximation can be improved by estimating the degrees of freedom.
A global continuation theorem and bifurcation from infinity for infinite-dimensional dynamical systems

A general continuation theorem for isolated sets in infinite-dimensional dynamical systems is proved for a class of semiflows. This result is then used to prove the existence of continua of full bounded solutions bifurcating from infinity for systems of reaction—diffusion equations.
Physical and Chemical Characterization of Asphalt (Bitumen) Paving Exposures

The purpose of this research was to characterize the physical and chemical properties of asphalt (bitumen) fume and vapor in hot mix asphalt roadway paving operations. Area and personal air samples were taken using real-time equipment and extractive sampling and analytical methods to determine worker asphalt exposure, as well as to characterize the properties of the particulate and vapor phase components. Analysis of personal inhalation and dermal samples by gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy showed that the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon profile is dominated by compounds with molecular weights below 228, and that substituted and heterocyclic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons comprised approximately 71% of the detectable mass concentration (vapor and particulate combined). Principal components analysis shows that the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons with molecular weights greater than 190 are the driving force behind the polycyclic aromatic compound exposures measured for the dermal and particulate phas...
Using a Course in Computer-Aided Engineering to Foster Life-Long Learning

This paper describes how a course in Computer-Aided Engineering has been used as a venue for developing a life-long learning mentality in students. This course covers numerical methods and a variety of software packages, and due to the rapid rate of change in software is an ideal place to teach life-long learning using multiple techniques. The motivation for life-long learning is introduced through a class discussion regarding computers and software. Students are then asked to learn how to use three different software packages with minimal formal instruction. Additionally, a technique formerly developed by the author is used to show students how to interpret a technical text and learn how to learn numerical methods from the text. Survey and exam data show that these techniques have been successful in enhancing the motivation for life-long learning and providing students with some of the tools necessary to accomplish this.
The Effects of High Levels of Dietary EDTA, Zinc or Copper on the Mineral Contents of Some Tissue of Turkey Poults

Abstract ANTAGONISTIC effect of high levels of dietary zinc on uptake of copper has been established for rats (Smith and Larson, 1946; Van Reen, 1953; Grant-Frost and Underwood, 1958; McCall and Davis, 1961; Van Campen and Scaife, 1967), chickens (Hill and Matrone, 1962), and pigs (Ritchie et al., 1963; Suttle and Mills, 1966a,b). High levels of zinc also interfere with storage of iron for rats (Cox and Harris, 1960; Magee and Matrone, 1960; Kinnamon, 1966; Settlemire and Matrone, 1967), and pigs (Cox and Hale, 1962). No definite information about the antagonism between zinc, copper and iron is available for turkey poults. A level of 30.8 mmoles ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) or about 2 gm. zinc per kg. of a practical type turkey starter diet caused no deleterious effects on the growth of poults. A level of 0.9 gm. copper per kg. diet caused a depression in growth of poults and this was . . .
Social Support and Suicidal Ideation in College Students

The present study examined the link between social support and suicidal ideation among 305 university students (90 men and 215 women) whose ages ranged from 18 to 24 years. Social support was significantly correlated with suicidal ideation (r = -.38), but social support did not contribute to the variation in suicidal ideation scores beyond the joint contribution of scores on the Beck Depression Inventory and scores on the Hopelessness Scale. A stronger relationship between social support and suicidal ideation might be found if investigators assessed different aspects of social support and if they examined the interaction of social support and level of reported stress.
Pion Production Data Needed for Space Radiation

A recent discovery concerning the importance of hadron production in space radiation is that pions can contribute up to twenty percent of the dose from galactic cosmic ray interactions (S. Aghara, S. Blattnig, J. Norbury, R. Singleterry, Nuclear Instruments and Methods, Vol. 267, 2009, p. 1115). Although the contribution for dose equivalent will be smaller, the dose contribution could be important for fluence based radiation models. Pion production cross sections will be an essential ingredient to such models, and it is of interest to investigate the adequacy of the pion production experimental data base for energies relevant to space radiation. The pion production threshold in nucleon - nucleon reactions is at 280 MeV and, in an interesting accident of nature, this lies near the peak of the galactic cosmic ray proton spectrum. Therefore, pion production data are needed from threshold up to energies around 50 GeV/nucleon, where the galactic cosmic ray fluence is of decreasing importance. Total and differential cross section data for pion production in this energy range will be reviewed. The availability and accuracy of theoretical models will also be discussed. It will be shown that there are a significant lack of data in this important energy range and that theoretical models still need improvement.
Seismic remote sensing for the earthquake source process and near-source strong shaking: A case study of the October 16, 1999 Hector Mine earthquake

A new methodology to automatically determine the earthquake source process and near-source strong ground motions using regional and local distance data was used to study the October 16, 1999 Hector Mine earthquake (MW7.1). Broadband displacement data were inverted for the seismic moment tensor and to resolve the fault plane ambiguity independent of aftershock location and surface faulting information. The identified NNW striking fault plane was used to invert for the distribution of fault slip over a planar surface. The slip model was used to predict near-fault peak ground velocity, which was found to agree well with the TriNet ShakeMap, and also with near-fault observations that were not available at the time of the initial analysis. Our method if automated is capable of providing near-source strong ground motion information within 30 minutes of the earthquake origin time even in cases where there are few near-fault recording instruments.
Clinical translation of stem cells: insight for cartilage therapies

The limited regenerative capacity of articular cartilage and deficiencies of current treatments have motivated the investigation of new repair technologies. In vitro cartilage generation using primary cell sources is limited by cell availability and expansion potential. Pluripotent stem cells possess the capacity for chondrocytic differentiation and extended expansion, providing a potential future solution to cell-based cartilage regeneration. However, despite successes in producing cartilage using adult and embryonic stem cells, the translation of these technologies to the clinic has been severely limited. This review discusses recent advances in stem cell-based cartilage tissue engineering and the major current limitations to clinical translation of these products. Concerns regarding appropriate animal models and studies, stem cell manufacturing, and relevant regulatory processes and guidelines will be addressed. Understanding the significant hurdles limiting the clinical use of stem cell-based cartilage may guide future developments in the fields of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.
Development of molecular simulation methods to accurately represent protein-surface interactions: Method assessment for the calculation of electrostatic effects

The simulation of the interactions of proteins with charged surfaces in a condensed-phase aqueous solution containing electrolytes using empirical force field based methods is predominantly governed by nonbonded interactions between the atoms of the protein, surface, and the solvent. Electrostatic effects represent the strongest type of these interactions and the type that is most difficult to accurately represent because of their long-range influence. While many different methods have been developed to represent electrostatic interactions, the particle mesh Ewald summation (PME) method is generally considered to be the most accurate one for calculating these effects. However, the PME method was designed for systems with three-dimensional (3D) periodicity, and not for interfacial systems such as the case of protein adsorption to a charged surface. Interfacial systems such as these have only two-dimensional periodicity, which may not be appropriate for treatment with PME due to the possibility that the presence of multiple charged image surfaces parallel to the primary simulation cell’s surface, may introduce nonphysical effects on the behavior of the charged molecules in the system. In an effort to address this issue, the authors have conducted a set of nanosecond-scale molecular dynamics simulations to calculate the equilibrium distribution of Na+ and Cl− ions near a charged surface using PME and a range of radial cutoff methods for treating electrostatic interactions, where the cutoffs prevent interaction with the periodic images of the system. The resulting ion concentration profiles were compared to one another and to a continuum analytical solution of the theoretical ion distribution obtained from the Poisson—Boltzmann equation. Their results show that the PME method does not introduce the suspected nonphysical effects in the ion distributions due to the 3D periodic images of the system, thus indicating that it is appropriate for use for this type of molecular simulation. Although their interest is motivated by protein-surface interactions, the conclusions are applicable for the treatment of electrostatics in other aqueous systems with two-dimensional periodicity.
Impact of a computer assisted navigation system on radiation exposure during pediatric ablation procedures

During catheter ablation procedures, non-radiologic navigation systems may reduce fluoroscopic exposure and energy applications, as well as improve procedural success rates. To examine the impact of a non-radiologic navigation system on ablation procedures in pediatric patients, the procedural characteristics and success rates prior to and following incorporation of the LocaLisa® (LL) navigation system into a pediatric electrophysiology laboratory were compared. Between January 2000 and April 2005, 246 consecutive patients underwent catheter ablation for either Atrioventricular Reentry Tachycardia AVRT (168) or Atrioventricular Nodal Reentry Tachycardia AVNRT (78). Ablation procedures performed prior to LL (108) were compared to ablation procedures performed using LL (113). The first 25 patients using LL were censored to remove the bias of a learning curve. There was no difference in demographic features between the two groups. Statistically significant decreases were found in the diagnostic (11.4 ± 6.1 min v 18.8 ± 9.8 min w/o LL), ablation (5.7 ± 10.3 vs 18.5 ± 20.1 min w/o LL) and total (17.2 ± 12.6 vs 37.3 ± 21.3 min w/o LL) fluoroscopy times for the LL group, as well as in the total number of energy applications (9.0 ± 8.5 vs 12.3 ± 12.2 w/o LL). Success rates were 99.1% w/ LL v 97.2% w/o LL (p = NS). No major complications were observed in either group. The use of a computer assisted navigation system significantly decreased the diagnostic, ablation, and total fluoroscopy times, as well as the number of energy applications, without affecting procedural success or complication rates. Non-radiologic navigation systems reduce radiation exposure during transcatheter electrophysiologic procedures and thus lower the lifetime radiation cumulative risk, a goal particularly important in children.
Decreased intercellular dye-transfer and downregulation of non-ablated connexins in aortic endothelium deficient in connexin37 or connexin40

Vascular endothelial cells are coupled by gap junctions that permit cell-to-cell transfer of small molecules, including signals that may be important for vasomotor responses. Connexin37 (Cx37) and connexin40 (Cx40) are the predominant gap-junction proteins present in mouse endothelium. We examined the effect of eliminating Cx37, Cx40, or both, on interendothelial communication in mouse aorta. Intercellular transfer of biocytin and [2-(4-nitro-2,1,3-benzoxadiazol-7-yl)aminoethyl]trimethylammonium (NBD-TMA) was used to assess gap-junction-mediated coupling. Ablation of Cx40 generally had a greater effect on dye-transfer than ablation of Cx37. The effect of Cx40 ablation on dye-transfer was age dependent. There was a 27-fold reduction in biocytin transfer in embryonic Cx40-/- aortic endothelium, a much larger change than in aortas of 6-7-week-old Cx40-/- animals, which showed a 3.5-fold reduction. By contrast, there was no reduction in biocytin transfer in embryonic Cx37-/- endothelium. Embryonic aortas lacking both Cx37 and Cx40 showed a complete loss of endothelial dye-transfer. Surprisingly, elimination of Cx40 resulted in up to a 17-fold drop in endothelial Cx37 on western blots, whereas deletion of Cx37 reduced endothelial Cx40 up to 4.2-fold. By contrast, in the medial layer, both Cx37 and Cx43 increased approximately fourfold in Cx40-/- aortas. Declines in non-ablated endothelial connexins were not mediated by changes in connexin mRNA levels, suggesting a post-transcriptional effect. Our results indicate that Cx37 and Cx40 are the only functional connexins expressed in mouse aortic endothelium and are collectively crucial for endothelial communication. Furthermore, Cx37 and Cx40 are codependent on each other for optimal expression in vascular endothelium.
Divergent Sequence Tunes Ligand Sensitivity in Phospholipid-regulated Hormone Receptors

The members of the NR5A subfamily of nuclear receptors (NRs) are important regulators of pluripotency, lipid and glucose homeostasis, and steroidogenesis. Liver receptor homologue 1 (LRH-1; NR5A2) and steroidogenic factor 1 (SF-1; NR5A1) have therapeutic potential for the treatment of metabolic and neoplastic disease; however, a poor understanding of their ligand regulation has hampered the pursuit of these proteins as pharmaceutical targets. In this study, we dissect how sequence variation among LRH-1 orthologs affects phospholipid (PL) binding and regulation. Both human LRH-1 (hLRH-1) and mouse LRH-1 (mLRH-1) respond to newly discovered medium chain PL agonists to modulate lipid and glucose homeostasis. These PLs activate hLRH-1 by altering receptor dynamics in a newly identified alternate activation function region. Mouse and Drosophila orthologs contain divergent sequences in this region potentially altering PL-driven activation. Structural evidence suggests that these sequence differences in mLRH-1 and Drosophila FTZ-f1 (dmFTZ-f1) confer at least partial ligand independence, making them poor models for hLRH-1 studies; however, the mechanisms of ligand independence remain untested. We show using structural and biochemical methods that the recent evolutionary divergence of the mLRH-1 stabilizes the active conformation in the absence of ligand, yet does not abrogate PL-dependent activation. We also show by mass spectrometry and biochemical assays that FTZ-f1 is incapable of PL binding. This work provides a structural mechanism for the differential tuning of PL sensitivity in NR5A orthologs and supports the use of mice as viable therapeutic models for LRH-1-dependent diseases.
Mass transport mechanism between the upper and lower mantle in numerical simulations of thermochemical mantle convection with multicomponent phase changes

Abstract Numerical simulations of thermochemical mantle convection are used to investigate the influence of multicomponent phase changes on mass transport between the upper and lower mantle. The model includes both olivine and pyroxene–garnet components based on a pyrolite composition. The simulations reveal large and focused upwellings through the 660-km phase boundary in the vicinity of subducting slabs. The upwellings are composed of depleted harzbergitic material, which contributes to the depletion of the upper mantle and may generate distinct reservoirs of trace elements in the upper and lower mantle as well. The position and composition of the upwelling is attributed to the development of compositional stratification at the top of the lower mantle, where dense harzbergitic material underlies enriched basaltic material due to a density inversion in the combine phase system. Subducting slabs disrupt the stratification in the vicinity of subduction, permitting a counter flow of harzbergitic material into the upper mantle. This behavior is not observed in a pure olivine phase system, suggesting that realistic mantle compositions are needed to assess the generation of distinct reservoirs in mantle convection simulations. Phase transitions in a multicomponent system provide a plausible mechanism for explaining the formation of a depleted reservoir in the upper mantle without implementing dehydration-induced melting and differentiation in the transition zone.
Formal Rayleigh–Schrödinger perturbation theory for both degenerate and non‐degenerate energy states

Using the Rayleigh-Schrodinger perturbation formalism, expressions are obtained for the nth order energy and the nth order wave function. No restrictions are placed on the degeneracy of the state or the order of perturbation in which the degeneracies are resolved. By the use of suitable operators, the formulae are expressed in compact form.
Mapping the Swine Genome: Take Home Lessons from Mouse and Man

Abstract The current emphasis of biotechnology in animal agriculture stresses the need to integrate molecular genetics into the identification of major genes affecting growth and development, reproductive performance, lactation, and disease resistance. Thus, the identification of allelic variants which affect quantitative traits will accelerate the rate of genetic improvement of animals. Our long range objective is to construct a well anchored, saturated linkage map of the pig genome through the application of abundant, randomly distributed, highly polymorphic microsatellite (MS) markers. Analysis of the segregation of these markers in the University of Illinois and MARC resource families will facilitate defining those areas of the genome where allelic variation or coding sequences describe phenotypic differences. Markers for loci which have a major impact on quantitative (economic) traits can then be incorporated into a marker‐assisted selective breeding program. To this end, we have cloned MS markers wh...
Reduction of carbon dioxide by tris(2,2'-bipyridine)cobalt(I)

Abstract Preliminary stoichiometric and kinetic results bearing on the mechanism of the reduction of HCO3− to CO by tris(2,2′-bipyridine)cobalt(I) in aqueous media are reported. The results indicate that CO (not formate) is the dominant carbon product and that it is scavenged by Co(bpy)3+ to give insoluble [Co(bpy)(CO)2]2. At pH ∼ 9, bicarbonate reduction occurs in competition with H2O reduction. Both processes are inhibited by bpy and promoted by H+, suggesting the common intermediate Co(bpy)2(H2O)H2+. The bicarbonate reaction itself branches to give H2 and CO in ∼ 3:1 ratio.
Nitrogen fixaton in Klebsiella pneumoniae during osmotic stress effect of exogenous proline or a proline overproducing plasmid

Abstract Osmotic stress, imposed by 0.5 M NaCl or other electrolytes and non-electrolytes, caused over a 100-fold reduction in the whole-cell nitrogen fixation activity in Klebsiella pneumoniae , wild-type strain M 5 A 1 . This reduction of nitrogen fixation activity could be reversed by the addition of proline to the culture medium at 0.5 mM concentration. With 0.5 M NaCl, in the presence of proline, nitrogenase activity was 47-fold greater than in the absence of proline. A mutation, originally isolated in Salmonella typhimurium , which resulted in proline over-production and enhanced osmotolerance, was transferred into K. pneumoniae by F′ conjugation. Intracellular proline, synthesized at high levels because of the mutation, had similar stimulatory effects on nitrogen fixation under osmotic stress as proline provided exogenously. In the overproducing strain, the cellular level of proline is elevated as much as 125-fold during stress over that seen in the control strain. To determine the mechanism of stimulation of nitrogen fixaton by proline during stress, the biosynthesis of nitrogenase polypeptides was studied. Net nitrogenase biosynthesis and the biosynthesis of other unidentified peptides, is strongly inhibited during osmotic stress; proline reverses the inhibition. The role of proline in enhancing nitrogen fixation during osmotic stress is discussed.
2014 William Allan Award: A hematologist's pursuit of hemoglobin genetics.

I am enormously grateful to The American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG) for selecting me to join the distinguished roster of recipients of the William Allan Award. I especially thank Haig Kazazian, a former recipient and a wonderful collaborator in the early days of my independent career, for the nomination and the gracious introduction today. I am not a conventional awardee for this honor, given that I have never held an appointment in a genetics department or division. Instead, my research career developed in a division of hematology.
A relational approach to decision support for EDP auditing

Une approche de gestion de base de donnees relationnelle prevoit le fondement pour un aide a la decision basee sur ordinateur qui aidera l'auditeur EDP a s'occuper de la complexite technologique des systemes actuels
GENERALIZATIONS ABOUT GENERALIZATION: HOW A THEORY OF SKILL DEVELOPMENT EXPLAINS BOTH GENERALITY AND SPECIFICITY*

Abstract Within a skill-theory framework, the traditional opposition between generalization and specificity is resolved. Neither generalization nor specificity is considered the normal state. Instead, they are both phenomena that can be predicted and explained in terms of skill structures and functional mechanisms of development or learning. A person acquires a skill in a specific context and must work to gradually extend it to other contexts. Within a task domain and across related domains, a set of structural transformations predict the order of generalization of the skill. Range of generalization of a given skill at a point in time varies widely across people and situations as a function of specified functional mechanisms. Generalization is maximized when (a) tasks are similar and familiar, (b) the environment provides opportunities for practice and support, (c) the person has had time to consolidate skills at the relevant developmental level, and (d) he or she is intelligent and in an emotional state ...
Eye detection using discriminatory Haar features and a new efficient SVM

This paper presents an accurate and efficient eye detection method using the discriminatory Haar features (DHFs) and a new efficient support vector machine (eSVM). The DHFs are extracted by applying a discriminating feature extraction (DFE) method to the 2D Haar wavelet transform. The DFE method is capable of extracting multiple discriminatory features for two-class problems based on two novel measure vectors and a new criterion in the whitened principal component analysis (PCA) space. The eSVM significantly improves the computational efficiency upon the conventional SVM for eye detection without sacrificing the generalization performance. Experiments on the Face Recognition Grand Challenge (FRGC) database and the BioID face database show that (i) the DHFs exhibit promising classification capability for eye detection problem; (ii) the eSVM runs much faster than the conventional SVM; and (iii) the proposed eye detection method achieves near real-time eye detection speed and better eye detection performance than some state-of-the-art eye detection methods. A discriminating feature extraction (DFE) method for two-class problems is proposed.The DFE method is applied to derive the discriminatory Haar features (DHFs) for eye detection.An efficient support vector machine (eSVM) is proposed to improve the efficiency of the SVM.An accurate and efficient eye detection method is presented using the DHFs and the eSVM.
Adaptive state-based multi-radio multi-channel multi-path routing in Wireless Mesh Networks

Wireless Mesh Networks (WMNs) are envisioned to seamlessly extend the network connectivity to end users by forming a wireless backbone that requires minimal infrastructure. Unfortunately for WMNs, frequent link quality fluctuations, excessive load on selective links, congestion, and limited capacity due to the half-duplex nature of radios are some key limiting factors that hinder their deployment. To address these problems, we propose a novel Adaptive State-based Multi-path Routing Protocol (ASMRP), which constructs Directed Acyclic Graphs (DAGs) from each Mesh Router (MR) to Internet Gateways (IGWs) and effectively discovers multiple optimal path set between any given MR-IGW pair. A congestion aware traffic splitting algorithm to balance traffic over these multiple paths is presented which synergistically improves the overall performance of the WMNs. We design a novel Neighbor State Maintenance module that innovatively employs a state machine at each MR to monitor the quality of links connecting its neighbors in order to cope with unreliable wireless links. We also employ a 4-radio architecture for MRs, which allows them to communicate over multiple radios tuned to non-overlapping channels and better utilize the available spectrum. Through extensive simulations using ns-2, we observe that ASMRP substantially improves the achieved throughput (~5 times gain in comparison to AODV), and significantly minimizes end-to-end latencies. We also show that ASMRP ensures fairness in the network under varying traffic load conditions.
Xenograft and genetically engineered mouse model systems of osteosarcoma and Ewing's sarcoma: tumor models for cancer drug discovery.

Introduction: There are > 75 histological types of solid tumors that are classified into two major groups: bone and soft-tissue sarcomas. These diseases are more prevalent in children, and pediatric sarcomas tend to be highly aggressive and rapidly progressive. Sarcomas in adults may follow a more indolent course, but aggressive tumors are also common. Sarcomas that are metastatic at diagnosis, or recurrent following therapy, remain refractory to current treatment options with dismal overall survival rates. A major focus of clinical trials, for patients with sarcoma, is to identify novel and more effective therapeutic strategies targeted to genomic or proteomic aberrations specific to the malignant cells. Critical to the understanding of the potential for targeted therapies are models of disease that are representative of clinical disease and predictive of relevant clinical responses. Areas covered: In this article, the authors discuss the use of mouse xenograft models and genetically engineered mice in c...
Connexin43 and Pannexin1 Channels in Osteoblasts: Who Is the “Hemichannel”?

Osteoblasts sense and respond to mechanical stimuli in a process involving influx and release of large ions and signaling molecules. Unapposed gap junction hemichannels formed of connexin43 (Cx43) have been proposed as a major route for such exchange, in particular for release of ATP and prostaglandin E₂ (PGE₂) in osteocytes. However, we have found that Cx43-null osteoblasts have unaltered, mechanically induced PGE₂ release and ATP-induced YoPro dye uptake. In contrast, PGE₂ release in response to fluid shear stress is abolished in P2X₇ receptor (P2X₇R)-null osteoblasts, and ATP-induced dye uptake is attenuated following treatment of wild-type cells with a P2X₇R or Pannexin1 (Panx1) channel blocker. These data indicate that Panx1 channels, in concert with P2X₇R, likely form a molecular complex that performs the hemichannel function in osteoblast mechanosignaling.