cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Predicting Audiovisual Word Recognition in Noisy Situations: Toward Precision Audiology.

Objective Spoken communication is better when one can see as well as hear the talker. Although age-related deficits in speech perception were observed, Tye-Murray and colleagues found that even when age-related deficits in audiovisual (AV) speech perception were observed, AV performance could be accurately predicted from auditory-only (A-only) and visual-only (V-only) performance, and that knowing individuals' ages did not increase the accuracy of prediction. This finding contradicts conventional wisdom, according to which age-related differences in AV speech perception are due to deficits in the integration of auditory and visual information, and our primary goal was to determine whether Tye-Murray et al.'s finding with a closed-set test generalizes to situations more like those in everyday life. A second goal was to test a new predictive model that has important implications for audiological assessment. Design Participants (N = 109; ages 22-93 years), previously studied by Tye-Murray et al., were administered our new, open-set Lex-List test to assess their auditory, visual, and audiovisual perception of individual words. All testing was conducted in six-talker babble (three males and three females) presented at approximately 62 dB SPL. The level of the audio for the Lex-List items, when presented, was approximately 59 dB SPL because pilot testing suggested that this signal-to-noise ratio would avoid ceiling performance under the AV condition. Results Multiple linear regression analyses revealed that A-only and V-only performance accounted for 87.9% of the variance in AV speech perception, and that the contribution of age failed to reach significance. Our new parabolic model accounted for even more (92.8%) of the variance in AV performance, and again, the contribution of age was not significant. Bayesian analyses revealed that for both linear and parabolic models, the present data were almost 10 times as likely to occur with a reduced model (without age) than with a full model (with age as a predictor). Furthermore, comparison of the two reduced models revealed that the data were more than 100 times as likely to occur with the parabolic model than with the linear regression model. Conclusions The present results strongly support Tye-Murray et al.'s hypothesis that AV performance can be accurately predicted from unimodal performance and that knowing individuals' ages does not increase the accuracy of that prediction. Our results represent an important initial step in extending Tye-Murray et al.'s findings to situations more like those encountered in everyday communication. The accuracy with which speech perception was predicted in this study foreshadows a form of precision audiology in which determining individual strengths and weaknesses in unimodal and multimodal speech perception facilitates identification of targets for rehabilitative efforts aimed at recovering and maintaining speech perception abilities critical to the quality of an older adult's life.
Error Estimation Based on Finite Difference Smoothing

Purpose of Lesson To improve the accuracy of Z/Z type error estimators by forming the smoothed solution using techniques from the finite difference method and to demonstrate the resulting improvements in the elemental and global error estimates.
Experimental Assessment of Accuracy of Automated Knowledge Capture

The U.S. armed services are widely adopting simulation-based training, largely to reduce costs associated with live training. However simulation-based training still requires a high instructor-to-student ratio which is expensive. Intelligent tutoring systems target this need, but they are often associated with high costs for knowledge engineering and implementation. To reduce these costs, we are investigating the use of machine learning to produce models of expert behavior for automated student assessment. A key concern about the expert modeling approach is whether it can provide accurate assessments on complex tasks of real-world interest. This study evaluates of the accuracy of model-based assessments on a complex task. We trained employees at Sandia National Laboratories on a Navy simulator and then compared their simulation performance to the performance of experts using both automated and manual assessment. Results show that automated assessments were comparable to the manual assessments on three metrics.
Spatial Transformations in Graph Comprehension

Although it is apparent that people are able to make inferences from graphs, it is presently unclear how they do so, even from simple graphs. Current theories of graph comprehension are largely silent about the processes by which such inferences are made (e.g., Freedman & Shah, 2002; Pinker, 1990). We propose that people use spatial reasoning, in the form of spatial transformations (Trafton, Trickett, & Mintz, in press), to answer inferential questions. Spatial transformations are cognitive operations that a person performs on internal or external visualizations, such as graphs. They occur when people must mentally create or delete something (e.g., a line) on the image in order to facilitate problem solving, and may be related to hypothetical drawing (Shimojima & Fukaya, 2003). This paper investigates the use of spatial transformations when people need to make inferences from graphs.
Polynomial-time geometric matching for object recognition

This paper considers the task of recognition and position determination, by computer, of a 2D or 3D object where the input is a single 2D brightness image, and a model of the object is known a priori. The primary contribution of this paper is a novel formulation and methods for local geometric feature matching. This formulation is based on analyzing geometric constraints on transformations of the model features which geometrically align it with a substantial subset of image features. Specifically, the formulation and algorithms for geometric feature matching presented here provide a guaranteed method for finding all feasible interpretations of the data in terms of the model. This method is robust to measurement uncertainty in the data features and to the presence of spurious scene features, and its time and space requirements are only polynomial in the size of the feature sets. This formulation provides insight into the fundamental nature of the matching problem, and the algorithms commonly used in computer vision for solving it.
Autonomy, Interdependence, and Responsibility

If there is a cycle in jurisprudential fashions, then, after an era of Positivism, with intermittent bursts of Natural Law, it had to be time for Historicism. Historicists view law not as the product of conscious choice by a society's members, but as the outcome of a process of growth largely shaped and constrained by historical forces. As each group has its own language or dialect, each has its own unique law. Ubi societas, ibi jus. The law of each group should be allowed to grow, at its own pace and according to its own preordained genetic program, until it reaches the final stage of whatever it is supposed to be.2 As for jurists, legislators, and erstwhile social do-gooders, Historicism has curt advice: look but don't touch. Like other theories, Historicism has authentic insights that are indispensable to understanding law and society. In particular, by emphasizing the distinctiveness of a particular group's legal system, Historicism can reveal differences in perspective and behavior that other approaches might neglect. Weyrauch and Bell, in this fascinating and important study, have used Historicist jurisprudence to its best advantage. In examining the legal system of what they call an "autonomous group," they expose a dimension of law that Positivism handles awkwardly at best. The type of subject matter Weyrauch and Bell have selected is important and relevant. Studies of this type, far from being marginal or exotic "boutique" exercises, are central to understanding the phenomenon of law and to addressing certain urgent policy problems. I admire much of the design and execution of this article and, in particular, the moral argument for a tolerant, pluralistic democracy that animates it.
Spatial econometrics in practice: A review of software options

Abstract The implementation of spatial econometric methods in empirical work in regional science and urban economics has suffered from the lack of easy to use software. In this paper, we review the features of a few software options that have been documented in the research literature. We also discuss in some detail the practical issues encountered when spatial econometric techniques are implemented with existing commercial econometric software. We focus on operational problems related to manipulating the spatial weights matrix, to the computation of diagnostics for spatial effects and to the maximum likelihood estimation of spatial process models.
Simple, New Test for Rapid Differentiation of the Mycobacterium fortuitum Complex

A simple, new test to differentiate species in the Mycobacterium fortuitum complex by determining susceptibility to pipemidic acid is described. A 20-μg pipemidic acid disk provides a rapid and reliable means of distinguishing M. fortuitum from M. chelonei.
TDHF-like equations in field theory and condensed matter systems

We discuss qualitatively a number of examples of TDHF-like equations that have arisen in model field theories and in (more physically relevant) quasi-one-dimensional condensed matter systems. These examples illustrate several phenomena seen in the (technically much more complicated) applications to nuclear physics and offer a new and perhaps invigorating perspective on TDHF.
Possibilities for X-Ray Holography Using Synchrotron Radiation

Since the theoretical [36.1] and experimental [36.2,3] demonstrations of the effectiveness of soft x rays in imaging biological material there has been considerably study [36.4,5] given to the prospects for further development of the presently existing techniques. This has been motivated to a large extent by advances in source technology, particularly the use of undulators on electron storage rings and recent improvements in short wavelength lasers. The present authors have carried out theoretical evaluations of the possibilities of holographic imaging and have also recorded a number of holograms using the U15 soft x-ray beam line at the National Synchrotron Light Source (NSLS) 750 MeV storage ring at Brookhaven. These have been successfully reconstructed using He:Cd laser light.
Cells of renin lineage are adult pluripotent progenitors in experimental glomerular disease

Modified vascular smooth muscle cells of the kidney afferent arterioles have recently been shown to serve as progenitors for glomerular epithelial cells in response to glomerular injury. To determine whether such cells of renin lineage (CoRL) serve as progenitors for other cells in kidney disease characterized by both glomerular and tubulointerstitial injury, permanent genetic cell fate mapping of adult CoRL using Ren1cCreER × Rs-tdTomato-R reporter mice was performed. TdTomato-labeled CoRL were almost completely restricted to the juxtaglomerular compartment in healthy kidneys. Following 2 wk of antibody-mediated focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) or 16 wk of ⅚ nephrectomy-induced chronic kidney diseases, tdTomato-mapped CoRL were identified in both interstitial and glomerular compartments. In the interstitium, PDGFβ receptor (R)-expressing cells significantly increased, and a portion of these expressed tdTomato. This was accompanied by a decrease in native pericyte number, but an increase in the number of tdTomato cells that coexpressed the pericyte markers PDGFβ-R and NG2. These cells surrounded vessels and coexpressed the pericyte markers CD73 and CD146, but not the endothelial marker ERG. Within glomeruli of reporter mice with the ⅚ nephrectomy model, a subset of labeled CoRL migrated to the glomerular tuft and coexpressed podocin and synaptopodin. By contrast, labeled CoRL were not detected in glomerular or interstitial compartments following uninephrectomy. These observations indicate that in addition to supplying new adult podocytes to glomeruli, CoRL have the capacity to become new adult pericytes in the setting of interstitial disease. We conclude that CoRL have the potential to function as progenitors for multiple adult cell types in kidney disease.
Cylinder balancing of direct injection engines

This paper presents and compares different algorithms for cylinder balancing of a high speed direct injection engine. Cylinder imbalance can be caused by a multitude of factors, among which injector variability and imprecisions feature most prominently. Cylinder imbalance has a profound effect on the engine operation. Hence, many different sensed signals can be used as indicators. We discuss different algorithms and present simulation results on a cylinder-by-cylinder diesel direct injection engine model.
Sex-Based Dissociation of White Matter Microstructure in Children With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

Objective Sexual dimorphism is evident in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), including subtype prevalence, adverse outcomes, and neural phenotype. Neurobiological studies of ADHD suggest that boys show more abnormalities in motor and premotor structure and function, whereas girls differ from typically developing (TD) peers in prefrontal circuitry. We applied diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to identify ADHD-related sex-specific differences in motor/premotor and prefrontal white matter (WM) microstructure in children. Method DTI estimated differences in WM microstructure among 120 children 8 to 12 years of age, 60 with ADHD (30 boys and 30 girls) and 60 controls (30 boys and 30 girls), matched on age, IQ, and handedness. Effects of diagnosis and sex on fractional anisotropy (FA) were assessed in motor/premotor and prefrontal regions. Group differences in FA and associations with response control (e.g., reaction time variability [CVRT] and commission error rate) were examined separately within sex. Results Sex-by-diagnosis interactions were observed for FA in primary motor (M1) and medial orbitofrontal (MOFC) cortex. Post hoc tests revealed that boys with ADHD showed bilateral reductions in FA within M1, compared with TD peers; in contrast, girls with ADHD showed higher FA bilaterally within MOFC. Decreased M1 FA was associated with higher CVRT in boys and higher commission error rates in girls. For MOFC, lower FA was associated with greater CVRT and commission error rates across all participants with ADHD. Conclusion ADHD affects the white matter of boys and girls differently; boys appear to be more affected in regions responsible for control of basic actions, whereas girls show more abnormalities in regions responsible for higher-level, top–down control.
Psychometric Properties of the Parental Distress Subscale

Using data from the Fragile Family Child Wellbeing Study, we examined the psychometric properties of the parental distress subscale of the parenting stress index—short form. Unlike previous studies, we found that the two-factor model did not fit the data significantly better than the one-factor model. Moreover, the results indicated that both the one-factor and the two-factor models provided only a marginal fit to the data. This finding was consistent across two time periods. Implications of these findings and future research are discussed.
Analysis of LE-ACS3, a 1-Aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic Acid Synthase Gene Expressed during Flooding in the Roots of Tomato Plants

The plant hormone ethylene is produced in response to a variety of environmental stresses. Previous work has shown that flooding or anaerobic stress in the roots of tomato plants caused an increase in the production of the ethylene precursor 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC) in the roots, due to flooding-induced activity of ACC synthase (EC 4.4.1.14). RNA was extracted from roots and leaves of tomato plants flooded over a period of 48 h. Blot analysis of these RNAs hybridized with probes for four different ACC synthases revealed that the ACC synthase gene LE-ACS3 is rapidly induced in roots. LE-ACS2 is also induced, but at later times. The genomic clone for LE-ACS3 was isolated and sequenced. At all time points, the probe from the LE-ACS3 coding region hybridized to two bands in the RNA blots. Hybridization using the first and third introns of LE-ACS3 separately as probes indicate that flooding may inhibit processing of the LE-ACS3 transcript. Sequence homology analysis identified three putative cis-acting response elements in the promoter region, corresponding to the anaerobic response element from the maize adh1 promoter, the root-specific expression element from the cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter and a recognition element for chloroplast DNA binding factor I from the maize chloroplast ATP synthase promoter.
Systolic array processing of the Viterbi algorithm

Results on efficient forms of decoding convolutional codes based on the Viterbi algorithm by using systolic arrays are presented. Various properties of convolutional codes are discussed. A technique called strongly connected trellis decoding is introduced to increase the efficient utilization of all the systolic array processors. Issues dealing with the composite branch metric generation, survivor updating, overall system architecture, throughput rate, and computational overhead ratio are also investigated. The scheme is applicable to both hard and soft decoding of any rate b/n convolutional code. It is shown that as the length of the code becomes large, the systolic Viterbi decoder maintains a regular and general interconnection structure as well as moderate throughput rate gain over the sequential Viterbi decoder. >
Analysis of the estrogen receptor from human uterus and breast tumor tissue by isoelectric focusing

Cytosolic estrogen receptors from human breast carcinoma (∼50 patients) and uterine myometrium tissue (∼20 patients) were analyzed by isoelectric focusing on agarose gels, by their ability to bind to isolated nuclei, and by ultracentrifugation, under diverse conditions. Through the use of diisopropylfluorophosphate (DFP) and sodium molybdate (Mo), two in vitro processes were examined by these techniques: receptor activation and receptor degradation. These agents are capable of inhibiting these processes selectively so that the resulting stabilized forms of the estrogen receptor can be characterized in more detail. The predominant molecular forms, as determined by the parameters stated above, vary dramatically depending on the presence of DFP or Mo. At least six distinct species of the estrogen receptor were resolved by isoelectric focusing. Of these, four appear to be products of proteolysis. These had isoelectric points of 6.9, 6.8, 6.4, and 6.3, with a combined sedimentation coefficient of approximately...
Comparison of a new ovomucoid and a second-generation α1-acid glycoprotein-based chiral column for the direct high-performance liquid chromatography resolution of drug enantiomers

A new commercially-available glycoprotein chiral stationary phase (CSP) based on immobilized ovomucoid protein has been evaluated. This column has been quantitatively compared to the second-generation α1-acid glycoprotein CSP for the direct resolution of enantiomers of sixteen commercially-available racemic drugs and eight proprietary drug candidates. The experimental protocol utilized simple aqueous—organic mobile phases with optimization schemes varying only in phosphate buffer concentration, pH and organic solvent modifier type and concentration. Cationic and anionic modifiers were not used to achieve separations due to concerns for consistent column performance. Column stability was monitored by comparing separation factors, resolution, and column efficiency following 200 sample injections during method development. The ovomucoid column showed generally higher resolution, greater flexibility in operating parameters, and better long-term stability than the acid glycoprotein column.
The role of the liquid crystalline state in the bundling of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium flagella

Salmonella bacteria owe their motility to the rotation of bundled protein filaments known as flagella. While the method by which flagella impart motility is known, there is a scarcity of data elucidating the critical process of flagellum bundling itself. This work hypothesises the process of flagellum bundling to be an energetically driven phenomenon in which a physical state transition drives the formation of the flagellum bundle at the surface of a Salmonella cell. In vitro analysis of intact flagella, detached and purified from Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium cells, with cross-polarised light microscopy demonstrates a transition from an isotropic to mesophasic suspension at physiologically relevant concentrations. We believe the state transition of flagellum suspensions to the liquid crystalline state directs the formation of the flagellum bundle and thus plays a role in Salmonella motility that, until this point, has been sparsely investigated.
Betatron amplitude growth upon traversing resonances during the compression cycle of an electron ring accelerator

Abstract In an electron ring accelerator electrons are often injected into a magnetic field with index n = −( r / B z ) (d B z /d r ) of about 0.5. For extraction and axial acceleration of the ring, n must approach zero and several betatron resonances are crossed. Following particles on a computer through simulated fields (which approximate measured experimental fields) has elucidated which resonances are important and which magnetic field perturbations cause large growth for a particular geometry and coil-energizing sequence. Analytical formulas for resonance growth also have been derived and checked against the computer calculations. These equations indicate the important driving terms of the field and are convenient for estimating the expected growth on traversing a resonance. Resonances at n = 0.5, 0.36, 0.25, and 0.20 have been investigated.
On the noninterpolation of polyhedral maps

Abstract In this paper we show that if attention is restricted to polyhedral embeddings of graphs, no theorem analogous to the Duke interpolation theorem for 2-cell embeddings is true. We also give two interesting classes of graphs: (i) a class in which the members have polyhedral embeddings in the torus and also in orientable manifolds of arbitrarily high genus, (ii) and another in which the members have polyhedral embeddings in the projective plane and also in orientable and nonorientable manifolds of arbitrarily low Euler characteristic.
1058 RAT MODEL OF PRENATAL CHLAMYDIA TRACHOMATIS (Ct) INFECTION

Although Ct has been associated with genital infections, prematurity, and stillbirths, studies of in utero (IU) Ct infection are lacking. To assess ascending IU infection and neonatal pneumonia we developed a rat model with preliminary maternal tail vein Ct injection (n=135 fetuses) and with Ct inoculation into decidua (D) (n=40) or into amniotic sac (A) (n=39) at laparotomy at 17-19 days' gestation. Controls were inoculated with uninfected tissue culture material. Animals were sacrificed on day 21 (term) by caesarean section. Injection of 2.58 to 810×102 IFU of Ct (DE strain) into tail veins did not produce materno-fetal infection or inflammation. Inoculation of 1.29 to 92.3×102 IFU at laparotomy produced placental infection in 18/22 A and 18/23 D infections, with yields of from 10 to 1.96×106 IFU/ml homogenized tissue. Maximal fetal sac inflammation was found with high-titer A infection. D inoculation produced deciduitis and inflammatory extension over the placental surface, demonstrated both by standard and indirect immunofluorescent light microscopy. Inflammatory evidence of infection or positive cultures were not observed in controls. Infection at days 17 and 18 produced stillbirths (3/6 A; 3/7 D). Ct inoculations were associated with severe placental inflammation, but there was no associated fetal pneumonia. Aspirated inflammatory cells however were present in fetal lung tissue which was Ct culture-positive. This represents a model of ascending IU Infection with Ct and with adaptation will permit study of neonatal pneumonia due to this organism.
Interaction of low-energy electrons and UV photons with adsorbed CF3Cl on Pt(111)

Abstract The interaction of low energy electrons and UV photons with CF 3 Cl adsorbed on Pt(111) has been studied using temperature-programmed desorption (TPD), photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS, UPS) and work-function (Δφ) measurements. The adsorption of CF 3 Cl on Pt(111) at 50 K is completely reversible. There are two distinct desorption peaks — 111–116 K (monolayer) and 82 K (multilayer). Unlike CH 3 Cl, no photoeffects are observed when adsorbed CF 3 Cl is exposed to UV photons generated from a Hg arc lamp. Exposure to low energy ( ~ 47 eV) electrons dissociates the adsorbed molecule. The evolution of CF 3 , but no CF 3 Cl or Cl, occurs during irradiation. The electron-induced dissociation (EID) cross section increases with electron energy and has a threshold energy of about 12 eV. The cross section is about 7 × 10 −16 cm 2 at 47 eV.
Comparison of hyperactivity in adult rats induced by neonatal intraventricular 6-hydroxydopamine following pargyline or desmethylimipramine treatment

The relative roles of norepinephrine (NE) and dopamine (DA) in sustaining neonatal hyperactivity were assessed in rats given 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) neonatally into the lateral ventricles after pargyline (P) or desmethylimipramine (DMI) pretreatment.
QCD thermodynamics with nonzero chemical potential at Nt = 6 and effects from heavy quarks

We extend our work on QCD thermodynamics with 2+1 quark flavors at nonzero chemical potential to finer lattices with N{sub t}=6. We study the equation of state and other thermodynamic quantities, such as quark number densities and susceptibilities, and compare them with our previous results at N{sub t}=4. We also calculate the effects of the addition of the charm and bottom quarks on the equation of state at zero and nonzero chemical potential. These effects are important for cosmological studies of the early Universe.
Examining the impact of consumer debt on parent-child interaction

The purpose of this study was to examine the possible relationship between consumer debt and several aspects of parent-child interaction, namely time spent by parents with their child(ren). affectionate interaction between parents and children and disciplinary parent-child interaction. A small, positive relationship was found between consumer debt and disciplinary parent-child interaction. No meaningful relationship was found between consumer debt and parental time spent with child(ren) or affectionate parental-child interaction. Age and number of children are more reliable correlates of parent-child interaction than is amount of household consumer debt.
On reflecting diffusion processes and Skorokhod decompositions

LetG be ad-dimensional bounded Euclidean domain, H1 (G) the set off in L2(G) such that ∇f (defined in the distribution sense) is in L2(G). Reflecting diffusion processes associated with the Dirichlet spaces (H1(G), ℰ) on L2(G, σdx) are considered in this paper, where A=(aij is a symmetric, bounded, uniformly ellipticd×d matrix-valued function such thata ij ∈H1(G) for eachi,j, and σ∈H1(G) is a positive bounded function onG which is bounded away from zero. A Skorokhod decomposition is derived for the continuous reflecting Markov processes associated with (H1(G), ℰ) having starting points inG under a mild condition which is satisfied when ϖG has finite (d−1)-dimensional lower Minkowski content.
Investigation of the Reaction Network of Benzofuran Hydrodeoxygenation over Sulfided and Reduced Ni–Mo/Al2O3 Catalysts

Abstract The hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) network of benzofuran was investigated over alumina-supported Ni–Mo sulfided and reduced catalysts. The effect of reaction temperature, pressure, hydrogen sulfide feed concentration, and pretreatment procedure on the product distribution, hydrogenolysis, and hydrogenation activity of each catalyst was studied. The differences and similarities between the observed benzofuran HDO network and the networks proposed in the literature were examined. Parallels between HDO and hydrodenitrogenation (HDN) were investigated by comparing the benzofuran HDO findings with previous results obtained for indole HDN. Reaction studies were carried out in a fixed-bed vapor-phase reactor using a wide range of feed concentrations at 120–360°C and 300–800 psig. Over the sulfided catalyst, one major route is observed for the benzofuran HDO network; it starts with the hydrogenation of benzofuran to 2,3-dihydrobenzofuran followed by its hydrgenolysis to 2-ethylphenol. Over the reduced catalyst, however, an additional route is observed that begins with the hydrogenation of 2,3-dihydrobenzofuran. This route contains several other oxygen-containing intermediate species that are not observed over the sulfided catalyst, and hydrocarbon products are formed by this route at significantly lower temperatures. The product distribution for both catalysts is found to be a strong function of temperature and H2S feed concentration where the hydrogenolysis reactions were promoted and the hydrogenation reactions were inhibited by H2S in the feedstream.
The Political Unification of the World: Whether, When, and How—Some Speculations

That the world will some day be ruled by a single government has been foreseen by visionary thinkers for well more than a century, and this article quotes a number of these predictions. However, there has been less agreement as to how a world state would be achieved. Some have held that it would occur through peaceful and voluntary means. Others have argued that it could only result—as have all other political coalescences in the past—through military means. This article sides with the latter view and cites the war in Iraq as perhaps a small step in that direction. Finally, several projections are discussed that attempt to predict when the political unification of the world will occur.
What Is "Universal" and "Local" in Islam?

L ocality arguably looms larger as an issue for Muslims than for followers of any other religion. Strictly tied to the Arabic language and the Arabian peninsula by a genealogical theory of religious practice, Muslims also conceive of their religion in highly universalistic terms. Christianity, especially in nonCatholic forms, has the universalism without the particularism-not even Catholics are obliged to make a pilgrimage to Rome; nobody learns Aramaic or Greek to be a good Christian. Judaism has the opposite combination of features, and Israeli Jews today find that this combination plagues their efforts to rethink what an Israeli nation can be. Neither Hinduism nor Buddhism is conceived of as ideally bringing all humans under one set of doctrines and institutions-a very different local/universal dynamic animates these faiths, one more oriented toward micro/macrocosmic relationships. Muslims' dual pull-toward practical and doctrinal universalism, toward the historical particulars of an Arabian revelation-leads to two complementary types of practice: struggles to define the universal qualities of the "religious," and efforts to develop distinct identities, local by definition, with respect to these universal qualities. The first practice, the effort to sift the universal from the merely incidental, often turns on a kind of inventory of the religious status to be given diverse features of Arabian life. Are dates and white headgear "Islamic" by virtue of showing up in the Prophet Muhammad's life? They seem to be so, judging from the practices of Muslims, in particular during the fasting month of Ramadan. What does it mean to translate the Koran? In Indonesia, the idea of vernacular commentaries that did not even pretend to be "translations" was highly controversial in the early decades of this century, for in the eyes of some they endangered the uniqueness and inimitability of the Koran. These and other questions get to the bottom of Islamic religious theories, based as they are on the Prophet Muhammad's role as
The Portland Neurotoxicity Scale: Validation of a Brief Self-Report Measure of Antiepileptic-Drug-Related Neurotoxicity.

The Portland Neurotoxicity Scale (PNS) is a brief patient-based survey of neurotoxicity complaints commonly encountered with the use of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs). The authors present data on the validity of this scale, particularly when used in longitudinal studies. Participants included 55 healthy controls, 23 epilepsy patient controls, and 86 healthy volunteers who took various AEDs or placebos for 12 weeks as part of randomized, double-blind studies of AED effects on cognitive abilities. Test-retest reliability in the control groups averaged .80 (total score). Test-retest changes in the PNS were sensitive to AED usage in general (p < .001) and to each of the five AEDs tested but not to placebo. Test-retest changes in the PNS were strongly correlated with several scales of the Profile of Mood States but only weakly correlated with objective cognitive test measures. The PNS has satisfactory psychometric properties and is sensitive to AED usage in test-retest studies.
LGBT Transitions to Parenthood

Rapidly developing legal and societal changes are influencing how we conceptualize families. This paper explores the inner experience of some lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people as they move toward developing families of their own making. The issues include how the coming out experience affects the experience of the self and the relationship to parenting as well as how the move from a couple to a family affects the inner and interpersonal worlds.
The Symptom Cluster of Sleep, Fatigue and Depressive Symptoms in Breast Cancer Patients: Severity of the Problem and Treatment Options

Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women. Insomnia is a significant problem in breast cancer patients, affecting between 20% to 70% of newly diagnosed or recently treated cancer patients. Pain, fatigue, anxiety, and depression are also common conditions in breast cancer and often co-occur with insomnia in symptom clusters, exacerbating one another, and decreasing quality of life (QOL). There have been no clinical trials of drugs for sleep in cancer. Cognitive behavioral psychotherapies on the other hand, have shown some of the most positive results in alleviating the distressing symptoms that often accompany the breast cancer experience, but even these studies have not targeted the symptom cluster. Pharmacological as well as non-pharmacological treatments need to be explored. It might be that a combined pharmacological and behavioral treatment is most efficacious. In short, substantially more research is needed to fully understand and treat the symptom cluster of insomnia, fatigue, pain, depression and anxiety in breast cancer.
Weekly variability of plasma and serum NT-proBNP measurements in normal dogs.

Abstract Objectives To determine the weekly variability of serum and plasma N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) concentrations in healthy dogs. Animals, materials and methods Fifty-three normal dogs were examined prospectively. Serum ( n = 25) or plasma ( n = 28) samples were obtained for NT-proBNP assay at one week interval for 3 consecutive weeks. Results Median serum or plasma NT-proBNP concentration did not change over 3 consecutive weeks. Twenty-two of 53 dogs (42%) had at least one NT-proBNP value >500 pmol/L, including 14 dogs with at least one serum NT-proBNP concentration >500 pmol/L and 8 dogs with at least one plasma NT-proBNP concentration >500 pmol/L during the 3-week sampling period. The difference between the maximum and minimum NT-proBNP value obtained over the 3-week sampling period was 200 pmol/L in 20% of dogs. Of the 19 dogs with a value >500 pmol/L on either week 1 or 2, 11 dogs (58%) had a subsequent NT-proBNP value Conclusions There is a high degree of variability in weekly serum and plasma NT-proBNP values in healthy dogs. Individual variability should be considered when interpreting NT-proBNP results in dogs.
MediaBreeze: a decoupled architecture for accelerating multimedia applications

Decoupled architectures are fine-grain processors that partition the memory access and execute functions in a computer program and exploit the parallelism between the two functions. Although some concepts from the traditional decoupled access execute paradigm made its way into commercial processors, they encountered resistance in general-purpose applications because these applications are not very structured and regular. However, multimedia applications have recently become dominant workload on desktops and workstations. Media applications are very structured and regular and lend themselves well to the decoupling concept. In this paper, we present an architecture that decouples the useful/true computations from the overhead/supporting instructions in media applications. The proposed scheme is incorporated into an out-of-order general-purpose processor enhanced with SIMD extensions. Explicit hardware support is provided to exploit instruction level parallelism in the overhead component. Performance evaluation shows that such hardware can significantly improve performance over conventional SIMD enhanced general-purpose processors. Results on nine multimedia benchmarks show that the proposed MediaBreeze architecture provides a 1.05x to 16.7x performance improvement over a 2-way out-of-order SIMD machine. On introducing slip-based data prefetching, a performance improvement up to 28x is observed.
Electronic protection for digital shared aperture array radar

We have developed a digital shared aperture array radar architecture which supports sub-aperture partitioning of a conformal array to improve time energy management for achieving radar search and track functions over 360 degree azimuth coverage. The digital array system consists of a plurality of digital transmit sub-arrays and digital received sub-arrays. For transmit operation, different frequencies or orthogonal waveforms can be employed for different apertures using the array control commutator. For receive operation, the sub-arrays are selected for different apertures using the receive data commutator. Essentially, the digital shared aperture supports dynamic partitioning of the aperture for multifunction applications. In this paper, we address these capabilities in the electronic protection (EP) against electronic threats, i.e. jamming and deception. Digital array radar provides digital degrees-of-freedom (DOFs) for transmit as well as for receive. These DOFs are selected by the commutators to support transmit and receive electronic protection. The receive DOFs are used for adaptive processing in jammer cancellation. These DOFs can be exploited in a number of ways through sector selection and digital beamforming to support several advanced processing architectures and algorithms. The digital array capabilities can also be exploited in monitoring jamming spectrum and estimation of the corresponding directions-of-arrival (DOAs). Digital array radar has transmit DOFs which can be used to form a transmit beam with nulls towards the deceptive jammers and separate decoy beams formed towards the deceptive jammers.
Micropulsation Measurements in California and Alaska

IN recent years there has been increased interest in micropulsations of the Earth's magnetic field1–4. As a part of a study of the micropulsations with periods of 10–30 sec., stations were established near Borrego, California (33° 21.5′ N., 116° 17′ W.), and near College, Alaska (64° 42′ N., 148° 29.5′ W.). Horizontal coil antennas of 2-m. diameter and 21,586 turns were used. The associated amplifiers had three db. band pass points at 0.04 and 0.4 cycles per second and a limiting senstivity of 0.02 γ.
Environmental Effect on Fatigue Life of FPSO Hull Structures

Floating production, storage and offloading systems (FPSOs) have been widely used in the development of offshore oil and gas fields because of their many attractive features. These features include a large work area and storage capacity, mobility (if desired), relatively low construction cost and good stability. They are mostly ship shaped, either converted from existing tankers or purpose built. The hull structural scantling design for tankers may be applicable to FPSOs; however, FPSOs have their own unique characteristics. FPSOs are located at specific locations with a dynamic loading that is quite different from that arising from unrestricted ocean service conditions for tankers. It is also noted that the wave conditions in recent FPSO applications may be very complicated when operating in areas such as those offshore West Africa and offshore Brazil where both seas and swells exist and propagate in different directions. In this paper, the unique FPSO operational aspects, especially the load assessment due to on-site environments will be described. The methodology of handling complicated wave conditions in fatigue assessment will be addressed. Special considerations for converted FPSOs, which need to take into account their operational history as a trading tanker and low cycle fatigue due to FPSO operations, will also be introduced. Case studies will be presented and appropriate analysis methodology will be summarized. The methodology has also been adopted by ABS Guide, see ABS [1].Copyright © 2009 by ASME
DNA footprinting with hydroxyl radical

High resolution images of proteins bound to DNA can be achieved through the use of a simple inorganic chemical system that produces the hydroxyl radical.
Endoscopic suction decompression of idiopathic epidural lipomatosis.

BACKGROUND Epidural lipomatosis can be idiopathic or associated with obesity and steroid excess. This disorder can be treated by weight control, reduction of steroid load, or operative decompression. We describe a non-obese patient with neurogenic claudication who had localized epidural fat from L4 to S1. Minimally invasive treatment consisted of a small laminotomy and endoscopically guided fat aspiration. METHODS A small bilateral L5-S1 laminotomy was performed. Using a special malleable endoscopic aspirator, loose fat was removed both dorsal and ventral to the dural sac. RESULTS At surgery, endoscopically guided suction aspiration was successful in removing the majority of the fat. Areas of fat that were vascularized and adherent to the dura required microsurgical dissection. Postoperatively, the patient has been asymptomatic. CONCLUSIONS This minimally invasive technique was successful in treating epidural dual compression that had failed conservative measures. Further evaluation of this technology is warranted.
Effect of aflatoxin B and rubratoxin B on bacteriophage and rabbit cornea cells.

Rabbit cornea cells exhibited a sensitivity to 1 μg aflatoxin b1 and 5 μg rubratoxin B per ml of growth medium. No changes were observed in the bacteriophages tested in the presence of 25 μg aflatoxin b1 or 100 μg rubratoxin B per ml of medium by the plaque-forming unit method or single-step growth curves.
Experimental study of transport in a trap-dominated relaxation semiconductor.

The term ``relaxation semiconductor'' has been used to define a category of high-resistivity semiconductors in which the dielectric relaxation time exceeds the recombination lifetime (${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\tau}}}_{\mathit{D}}$\ensuremath{\gg}${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\tau}}}_{0}$). The transport behavior of semi-insulating GaAs, a trap-dominated relaxation semiconductor, in response to minority-carrier injection has been experimentally investigated. Using a ${\mathit{p}}^{+}$-\ensuremath{\nu}-${\mathit{n}}^{+}$ structure, the I-V characteristics have been probed over seven orders of magnitude in current and various regimes have been identified. The experimental results have been compared with previous numerical modeling. A sublinear regime at high bias has been shown to be associated with enhanced trapping by the midgap defects. Impact-ionization processes involving the traps have been demonstrated to be the cause of a sudden rise of current at threshold fields of approximately 1400 V/cm, and the data have been compared to a simple impact-ionization model.
Effect of losartan and hydrochlorothiazide on exercise tolerance in exertional hypertension and left ventricular diastolic dysfunction.

A randomized, double-blind study of 6 months of losartan 50 mg or hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) 12.5 mg was performed in 40 subjects with left ventricular diastolic dysfunction (mitral flow velocity E/A ratio 200 mm Hg, systolic BP at rest 50%, and no ischemia. Before treatment, exercise systolic BP was 213 ± 13 mm Hg (mean ± SD) in the 19 patients randomized to losartan and 209 ± 11 mm Hg in the 21 patients who received HCTZ. After 6 months, exercise systolic BP was similarly reduced in patients who received losartan (197 ± 23 mm Hg, p
The evolution of femoral osteology and soft tissues on the line to extant birds (Neornithes)

Femoral osteology and soft tissues evolved in a stepwise pattern in archosauromorph reptiles on the line to crown group birds. Crocodylia retains most ancestral archosaurian traits, whereas Dinosauromorpha (including birds) acquired many more derived traits. The complex sequence of changes included major shifts of several thigh muscle insertions. Medial rotation of the proximal femur (e.g. the femoral head) in archosaurs moved the greater trochanter laterally, bringing along the insertion of M. pubo-ischio-femoralis externus. Within Dinosauromorpha, the lesser trochanter moved proximally away from the trochanteric shelf. Presumably the lesser trochanter indicates the insertion of M. iliotrochantericus caudalis whereas the trochanteric shelf indicates the insertion of M. iliofemoralis externus. An accessory trochanter at the base of the lesser trochanter marks the insertion of M. pubo-ischio-femoralis internus 2 in tetanuran theropods. I propose hypotheses for the homologies of several intermuscular lines and other features on the femoral shaft. On the line to Neornithes, most changes of femoral morphology predated Aves and the origin of flight; few femoral features are unique to birds. Overall, the pattern of morphological evolution is consistent with stepwise functional evolution of the hindlimb within Dinosauromorpha on the line to Neornithes. The clade Ornithurae evolved the last few hindlimb apomorphies that characterize extant birds, in conjunction with more flexed hip and knee joints.
The challenges of copper wire bonding

Advantages of Cu wire bonding, such as less wire sweep, better performance for analog devices, are interpreted by its material properties. Alternative aspect from material properties on Cu wire bonding parameters is proposed to reflect the fact that Cu wire bonding may not necessarily damage the existing under-pad structure of integrated circuit designed for Au wire bonding. The challenge of Cu wire bonding is its process window needs to be tightened than Au wire bonding. The corrosion mechanism of Cu-Al EVlCs is yet clear, the selection of molding compound become critical to achieve longer life for Cu wire bonded devices in terms of IMC corrosion.
MALTREATED INFANTS: VULNERABILITY AND RESILIENCE

This study of maltreated infants offers evidence supporting a model of bidirectional effects in which the mother initiates the maltreatment but both mother and infant behave so as to maintain the situation. Maltreated infants were found not to differ from control infants in congenital characteristics. They did, however, display deviance in learned behavior patterns. After intervention with the mother the infants showed behavioral improvement. These results suggested that maltreated infants were not inherently different from other children and that they were resilient in response to environmental improvement. Their earlier behavior may, however, have functioned to maintain their mothers' maltreating responses.