cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Telemedicine applications in primary care: a geriatric patient pilot project.

Objective To determine patient satisfaction with telemedicine technology. Subjects and Methods In this pilot study, 20 generally healthy elderly residents (mean age, 77.3 years) of a Florida retirement community consulted weekly by "Electronic House Call" with a primary care physician to record their vital signs and discuss their condition. At the end of the 8-week study period, they were asked to complete a survey indicating their satisfaction with the telemedicine experience. Results Eighteen of the 20 participants completed the survey. Eleven respondents (61%) reported they were comfortable using the computer system without assistance. Most (13/18; 72%) believed the computer system correctly recorded vital signs. Almost all (17/18; 94%) reported the computer system did not have a negative impact on their relationship with their primary health care provider, and 11 (61%) thought that the system had a positive effect. Conclusions The participants in this small pilot study were pleased with the experience they had with telemedicine. Large-scale studies are needed to determine the widespread utility of telemedicine technology.
Countries’ Biomedical Publications and Attraction Scores

Studying publication volumes at the country level is key to understanding and improving a country’s research system. PubMed is a public search engine of publications in all life sciences areas. Here, we show how this search engine can be used to assess the outputs of life science-related research by country. We have measured the numbers of publications during different time periods based on the country of affiliation of the first authors. Moreover, we have designed scores, which we have named Attraction Scores, to assess the relative focus either toward particular types of studies, such as clinical trials or reviews, or toward specific research areas, such as public health and pharmacogenomics, or toward specific topics, for instance embryonic stem cells; we have also investigated a possible use of these Attraction Scores through a correlation analysis with regulatory policies. We have weighed the statistics against general indicators such as country populations and gross domestic products (GDP). During the 5-year period 2008-2012, the United States was the country with the highest number of publications and Denmark the one with the highest number of publications per capita . Among the 40 countries with the highest GDPs, Israel had the highest publications-to-GDP ratio. Among the 20 countries with the most publications, Japan had the highest Attraction Score for induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells and Italy the highest proportion of review publications. More than 50% of publications in English were from countries in which English is not the primary language. We show an assorted and extensive collection of rankings and charts that will inform scholars and policymakers in studying and improving the research systems both at the national and international level.
The Crusader States. By Malcolm Barber. (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2012. Pp. xviii, 476. $40.00.)

In a detailed narrative based on a perceptive reading of a wide range of primary sources, Malcolm Barber argues that the twelfth‐century crusader states were viable, rejecting as teleological the a...
Constituencies, ideology, and the demand for abortion legislation

If the Supreme Court were to overturn its basic decision making abortion legal, abortions would not suddenly become illegal. This issue would revert to the states. State legislatures would have to pass new laws if they wanted to ban abortions. Using the Senate vote on the proposed Hatch/Eagleton Amendment, which would have reversed the Supreme Court's decision to legalize abortion, a model was developed to identify the various constituencies that may be significant in determining whether a state would continue to allow legal abortions. Empirical analysis finds women in white-collar occupations and nonwhites are demanders of legal abortions, while evangelical Christians have a negative impact on the continuation of legal abortions. The empirical results also suggest that there exists a direct relationship between the liberal ideology of a state concerning the role of women in society and its political support of legal abortions. An implication of this study is that, if the legal status of abortion were to revert to the states, nineteen states would almost certainly continue to allow legal abortions while five other states are highly probable. But eighteen states would almost certainly abolish legal abortions and eight other states are unlikely to continue to allow legal abortions.
Interaction with glycine increases stability of a mutagenic tautomer of uracil. A density functional theory study.

The most stable structures for complexes of minor tautomers of uracil (U) with glycine (G) were characterized at the density functional B3LYP/6-31++G** level of theory. These are cyclic structures stabilized by two hydrogen bonds. The relative stability of isolated tautomers of uracil was rationalized by using thermodynamic and structural arguments. The stabilization energies for complexes between tautomers of U and G result from interplay between stabilizing two-body interaction energies and destabilizing one-body terms. The latter are related to the energies of: (i) tautomerization of the unperturbed moieties and (ii) distortions of the tautomers in the complex. The two-body term is related to the interaction energy between distorted tautomers. The two-body interaction energy term correlates with perturbations of length of the Y-H proton-donor bonds as well as with deprotonation enthalpies and proton affinities of the appropriate monomers sites. It was demonstrated that the relative instability of rare tautomers of uracil is diminished due to their interactions with glycine. In particular, the instability of the third most stable tautomer is decreased from 11.9 kcal/mol for an isolated uracil to 6.7 kcal/mol in a complex with the zwitterionic tautomer of glycine. A decrease of instability by 5.2 kcal/mol in the free enthalpy scalemore » could result in an increase of concentration of this tautomer by almost five orders of magnitude. Such a concentration falls in the mutationally significant range. The increased stability of the third tautomer of uracil, and probably thymine, can be relevant for point mutations because its proton donor and acceptor sites are complementary with those of guanine rather than these of adenine.« less
Fuzzy Neural Agents for Online NBA Scouting

Internet is the focus of the intelligent agent applications. The current status of intelligent agent for the World Wide Web is still in its infancy, but like the Web itself, is evolving constantly. Several agents are being designed and implemented for a variety of tasks in diverse range of applications: managing e-mail, navigating and retrieving information from the Internet, online shopping, electronic business, monitoring stock prices or currency exchanges, etc. In this paper, we present and describe an intelligent service agent that assists an NBA scouting agent in his/her work. The particularity of our agent is not only it retrieves relevant information about NBA players from the Internet for the scouting agent but also it derives metadata from that information, which consist of player performance evaluation and player statistics prediction.
Implementation of a Self-Health Project by Baccalaureate Students

With increasing evidence that life-style is an important influence on health, three nursing faculty members at the University of Minnesota implemented a learning project to enable students to assess, plan, and evaluate their own life-styles. The goal was to have the students attempt to make positive changes. As part of a "health concepts" nursing course, students became much more aware of social, economic, environmental, and cultural factors that either enhanced or detracted from their ability to achieve their ideal life-styles. The students responded favorably to this assignment because of the potential benefits of investing in themselves while pursuing the rigorous program leading to a nursing degree.
URBAN PROPERTY VALUES, PERCOLATION THEORY AND FRACTAL GEOMETRY

This project arose from the question: "Can fractal geometry be used to represent changes in urban property values?" In pursuit of an answer to this question, this paper reviews existing urban modeling techniques and their shortcomings in terms of their abilities to represent changes in property values. A percolation model will be used to model property value changes. Data sets of changes in property values over time in the Greater Cleveland area will be developed and mapped. The percolation model will be tested with these data.
Ab initio valence bond cluster expansion for an alternating infinite chain of hydrogen atoms

Abstract A novel ab initio method is applied to a hydrogen atom chain with alternating bond lengths. This entails a cluster expansion approximation of an extended-system effective Hamiltonian, here taken to be of the valence bond or Heisenberg spin-exchange type. Within this approach, evidence is found that the chain remains dimerized over a very wide range of pressures.
Opportunities to enhance management of karstic aquifers

Methods exist to obtain “new sources of water.” Examples include: (1) capturing and enhancing stormwater recharge and retention within diffuse-flow portions of karst and other aquifers; (2) recycling and reuse of waste water; (3) reducing evapotranspiration and rejected recharge; and (4) ameliorating atmospheric acid deposition through use of alkaline groundwater. These little used management methods have immense potential to sustain future water demands. Full utilization of “new” and traditional water resources requires an understanding of the hydrogeologic framework of karstic aquifers. Reliable conceptual, numerical flow and transport models are needed to help evaluate, select, and design viable water management options. Three such simulation examples are provided together with a discussion of Penn State’s Wastewater reuse project where recharge approaches 3.785 × 109l/year
Do the “Eyes” Have It? A Program Evaluation of Jane Elliott's “Blue‐Eyes/Brown‐Eyes” Diversity Training Exercise1

The effectiveness of Jane Elliott's well-known “blue-eyes/brown-eyes” exercise in reducing college students’ stereotyping and prejudice was assessed. College students were randomly assigned to either the exercise group or a comparison group. Blue-eyed and brown-eyed exercise participants were given discriminatory versus preferential treatment, respectively; a procedure purportedly designed to sensitize participants to the emotional and behavioral consequences of discrimination. Participation in the exercise was found to be associated with White students (a) indicating significantly more positive attitudes toward Asian American and Latino/Latina individuals, but only marginally more positive attitudes toward African American individuals; and (b) reporting anger with themselves when noticing themselves engaging in prejudiced thoughts or actions—negative affect that theoretically could prove to be either helpful or detrimental in promoting long-term reduction of stereotyping and prejudice.
Joule Heating and its Implications on Crack Detection/Arrest in Electrically Conductive Circular Cylindrical Shells

Distribution of Joule heating and the corresponding electromagnetic field in the vicinity of the crack in a thermo- and electro-conductive thin-walled shell carrying a non-stationary electrical current is investigated. Specifically, a circular cylindrical shell with one finitely long crack that is perpendicular to the current direction is considered. The crack is free of mechanical loads. The underlying boundary-value problem is addressed via the use of Fourier series expansion and the solution reduces to that of a singular integral equation with Hilbert-type singular kernel. The influence of the presence of crack, and the effect of non-stationarity of the current on the distribution of current and Joule heating in the shell are investigated and pertinent conclusions are drawn. The results are instrumental toward crack detection and active arrest of crack propagation in structures made of electro-conductive materials or aged structure components in aerospace industry.
The physics of e-commerce supply chains

The Internet is rapidly improving our ability to support information flows across global supply chains. However, the business impact of these IT investments depends not just on the information flows supported by such systems, but also on other non-information related characteristics of the supply chain. It is the complex interplay among these characteristics that results in business performance, or lack thereof. In order to better understand the business impact of IT investments in the supply chain, we are motivated to examine the ‘physics’ of supply chain structures. By physics, we mean the performance patterns inherent in its informational and physical characteristics. Using the systems dynamics methodology, we model basic information and physical characteristics of supply chains and examine their impact on some common measures of performance. Experiments with the models suggest that, in addition to information delays, physical delays also have a major impact on the stability of supply chains, as well as on operating cost. Moreover, the tradeoff between chain stability and responsiveness appears to be nonlinear, suggesting that a small compromise in responsiveness may yield larger gains in stability. Multi-tier chains appear to be less ‘stiff’ in responding to demand fluctuations, implying that their information systems must be specifically designed to overcome this structural tendency. These results have managerial implications in terms of designing the information and physical structure of a supply chain as well as for its operation.
The Varicella-Zoster Virus ORF54 Gene Product Encodes the Capsid Portal Protein, pORF54

The Varicella-zoster virus (VZV) ORF54 gene was characterized using a guinea pig antiserum prepared to a GST-pORF54 fusion protein. A protein of the predicted size, 87kDa, was detected in VZV-infected MeWo cells but not in mock-infected cells. Sucrose density gradient fractionation of pORF54 expressed in a recombinant baculovirus system resulted in samples containing enriched amounts of pORF54. Electron microscopic analysis suggested that the ORF54 gene encodes a protein that assembles into ring-like portal structures similar to those observed for numerous bacteriophages and other herpesviruses.
Network-Based Analysis of Survival for Unresectable Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Primary hepatocellular cancer (HCC) classification systems are based on histopathology and radiology, yet clinical intuition and experience suggest that natural history and disease progression have distinctive clinical features, consistent with a cluster of homogeneous entities within a heterogeneous cohort. We built a rigorous, sequenced, graph-based strategy of network phenotyping analysis (NPA) to combine data smoothing to minimize stochasticity, multivariate analysis to identify ambiguity and prioritize key variables, and k-partite graphs to visualize coherence. In 890 unresectable HCC patients, we selected 13 baseline clinical variables. After rank ordering by survival, we found data structure that exhibited coherence between variables, implying heterogeneity in which survival varied depending on the associated variable profile. The NPA data compression identified five distinctive clinical phenotypes, based only on gender, age, and levels of serum bilirubin, serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), and serum gamma glutamyl transpeptidase (GGTP). The phenotypic profiles for gender and age were substantially different. Young, male patients had a low survival, while elderly women had a long survival. Novel clusters included young men, with high AFP levels for their level of bilirubin, as well as women of all ages, with high GGTP values for their level of AFP. The identification of phenotypic groups of HCC may be of value in studies designed to understand their underlying pathophysiology. We conclude that NPA offers a new useful tool in the reclassification of HCC.
Intelligent Microscopy for EBSD Applications

As EBSD techniques improve, researchers are rapidly gaining access to quantities of high-caliber information previously unavailable. However, these benefits bring their own drawbacks. Engineers must either learn to cope with large amounts of data, or they must be more selective about which data is captured. In either case, machine learning techniques may play an important role. Data mining techniques can be used to extract knowledge from large databases, while other machine learning methods enable the identification of critical features, and the efficient search for such features at the data acquisition phase. One particular application of these techniques involves the investigation of fracture and fatigue mechanisms. Methods are required for finding and recording critical event inception. The development of in-situ test equipment, and high-resolution microscopy techniques (such as high-resolution EBSD: HREBSD) have placed invaluable tools into the hands of researchers. Nevertheless, practical considerations limit the volume of material that can be carefully monitored during a given testing regime. Machine learning techniques offer a promising framework for enhancing efficiency in the search for critical events. This paper presents initial efforts to develop an intelligent microscopy environment for EBSD users based upon machine learning methods. The test bed for the study will include ductility studies in magnesium, exploiting recent advances by the authors in the area of HREBSD.
Use of Repeated Matings to Estimate Environmental and Genetic Trends and Effects of Relaxing Selection in a Selected Strain of Leghorn Chickens

Response from index selection for egg production traits in a Leghorn strain over 7 years was partitioned into estimates of total (delta T), temporary (delta R), and net genetic (delta G) response, by producing progeny from selected (A) and unselected (D) first year breeders and from second year breeders (B) and first year full-sisters of previous years A breeders (C). In A, B, C, and D populations, average yearly number of full-sib families was 121, 47, 37, and about 50 and of birds with complete records was 824, 287, 258, and 298. Restricting A to repeated B families added positive bias in delta G for viability, age at first egg, and rate of lay. Estimates of delta G and delta R from B and C populations were similar. Yearly environmental change (delta E) was over three times the phenotypic change (delta P) for egg numbers, emphasizing necessity for intra-year estimates of delta G and delta R. Temporary response (delta R) approached or exceeded total response (delta T) for mortality and accounted for 40% of delta T for rate of lay and 60% for economic index, suggesting adverse maternal environmental effects from relaxing selection (D). Net yearly genetic change (delta G) was 1.5% for rate of lay, $.18 per bird, and in desired direction for most traits. Estimated net yearly response for rate of lay exceeded that predicted from .64 sigma male and .92 sigma female index selection differentials and sire-component genetic parameters (.6%) but agreed ($.16) for economic index. Efficiency and bias for the repeat-mating design are handicapped by mortality and health-related maternal effects.
A tool for enhancing innovation in construction organizations

A 12-person-sponsored research team consisting of three academic researchers and nine experienced practitioners conducted a three-year investigation into ways to enhance innovation within engineering-procurement-construction organizations. Data from the literature combined with over 150 surveys of active practitioners were used to identify and classify factors that influence an organization's ability to generate and implement new ideas that improve business performance. The salient factors were then identified and their relative impact was rated using the nominal group technique. Finally, these data were organized into a maturity model tool that was pilot tested on four active construction organizations. The results of this study can be used by construction organizations to identify and respond to their innovation-related weaknesses. The hundreds of hours of discussions of the 12-member research team and the fairly large set of empirical data collected by the team confirm the value of the existing constru...
Authoring Communicative Behaviors for Situated, Embodied Characters

Embodied conversational agents hold great potential as multimodal interfaces due to their ability to communicate naturally using speech and nonverbal cues. The goal of my research is to enable animators and designers to endow ECAs with interactive behaviors that are controllable, communicatively effective, as well as natural and aesthetically appealing; I focus in particular on spatially situated, communicative nonverbal behaviors such as gaze and deictic gestures. This goal requires addressing challenges in the space of animation authoring and editing, parametric control, behavior coordination and planning, and retargeting to different embodiment designs. My research will aim to provide animators and designers with techniques and tools needed to author natural, expressive, and controllable gaze and gesture movements that leverage empirical or learned models of human behavior, to apply such behaviors to characters with different designs and communicative styles, and to develop techniques and models for planning of coordinated behaviors that economically and correctly convey the range of diverse cues required for multimodal, user-machine interaction.
A Method for Calculating the Steady-State Dynamic Response of Rigid-Body Machine Systems

Methode de calcul de la reponse dynamique en regime permanent d'un systeme mecanique forme d'elements rigides
Model for Studying Unsteady Droplet Combustion

The concept of a reduced boundary condition at the surface of a droplet is used to develop a theory of unsteady droplet burning. This theory utilizes a quasi-steady gas-phase assumption, which has been shown to be realistic for a wide range of droplet sizes at low pressures. The most significant consequence of the theory is that the problem of unsteady droplet burning is reduced to the solving of a single diffusion-type nonlinear partial differential equation having one of its boundary conditions determined by an algebraic function of the quasi-steady gas-phase variables. This reduced boundary condition incorporates the entire dependence of the solution on fuel characteristics, chemical kinetics, and thermal properties of the gases. An experiment is proposed for determining this boundary condition so that the nonsteady droplet combustion problem can be solved for a realistic situation. By using additional assumptions, a numerical estimate of the boundary condition has been made.
Targeting and Cytotoxicity of SapC-DOPS Nanovesicles in Pancreatic Cancer

Only a small number of promising drugs target pancreatic cancer, which is the fourth leading cause of cancer deaths with a 5-year survival of less than 5%. Our goal is to develop a new biotherapeutic agent in which a lysosomal protein (saposin C, SapC) and a phospholipid (dioleoylphosphatidylserine, DOPS) are assembled into nanovesicles (SapC-DOPS) for treating pancreatic cancer. A distinguishing feature of SapC-DOPS nanovesicles is their high affinity for phosphatidylserine (PS) rich microdomains, which are abnormally exposed on the membrane surface of human pancreatic tumor cells. To evaluate the role of external cell PS, in vitro assays were used to correlate PS exposure and the cytotoxic effect of SapC-DOPS in human tumor and nontumorigenic pancreatic cells. Next, pancreatic tumor xenografts (orthotopic and subcutaneous models) were used for tumor targeting and therapeutic efficacy studies with systemic SapC-DOPS treatment. We observed that the nanovesicles selectively killed human pancreatic cancer cells in vitro by inducing apoptotic death, whereas untransformed cells remained unaffected. This in vitro cytotoxic effect correlated to the surface exposure level of PS on the tumor cells. Using xenografts, animals treated with SapC-DOPS showed clear survival benefits and their tumors shrank or disappeared. Furthermore, using a double-tracking method in live mice, we showed that the nanovesicles were specifically targeted to orthotopically-implanted, bioluminescent pancreatic tumors. These data suggest that the acidic phospholipid PS is a biomarker for pancreatic cancer that can be effectively targeted for therapy utilizing cancer-selective SapC-DOPS nanovesicles. This study provides convincing evidence in support of developing a new therapeutic approach to pancreatic cancer.
Reductive Conversion of Thiochrome to Thiamine

ALTHOUGH the chemistry of thiochrome was thoroughly developed during the period of thiamine exploration in the 'thirties1,2, the biochemical aspects of this pigment were neglected, mainly because of the early reports on its apparent inactivity in the carboxylase reactions3. Recent investigations by Titaev4, however, have suggested a major role for thiochrome; these reports have alleged that an enzyme, thiamine dehydrogenase, catalyses the oxidation of thiamine to thiochrome with the subsequent reduction of oxidized adrenaline. The existence of this enzyme system, however, has been both refuted5 and affirmed6 in recent years, and at the present time it is difficult to assess the biological significance of the reaction.
Localizing 2‐medians on probabilistic and deterministic tree networks

Locating a single facility (the 1-median problem) on a deterministic tree network is very efficiently solved by Goldman's algorithm. This paper explores the possibility of efficiently solving the 2-median problem for both deterministic and probabilistic tree networks. Interesting properties (Theorems 1–4) are derived that relate the location of 1-median to the location of pairs of 2-medians. Two simple algorithms, the “Improved Link-Deletion” algorithm for the deterministic case and the “Selective Enumeration” algorithm for the probabilistic case, are presented which somewhat improve existing methods to determine 2-medians on tree networks.
Concerns and Issues in Treating Children of Parents Diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder

ABSTRACT Despite growing recognition of the significance of family issues in persons who have been diagnosed as having dissociative identity disorder (formerly multiple personality disorder) (DID/ MPD), the impact on the child living with a parent with DID/MPD has received little attention. This article describes reasons why therapists may hesitate to address the needs of children in the therapy of a parent with DID/MPD, summarizes the literature supporting assessment of the children, relates clinical observations on the potential impact of DID/MPD on children, and suggests several therapeutic interventions. The goal is to encourage awareness of possible stressors in these children's lives and to promote assessment and early intervention.
Sodium-Potassium Adenosine Triphosphatase: Acyl Phosphate "Intermediate" Shown to be L-Glutamyl-γ -Phosphate

Peptides obtained from pepsin digestion of the phosphorylated and nonphosphorylated forms of a preparation of brain microsomal sodium-potassium-activated adenosine triphosphatase were treated at p H 5.4 with N-(n- propyl-2,3- 3 H ) hydroxylamine of high specific activity, then separated by column chromatography, and further digested with pronase. A compound isolated in higher amounts from the phosphorylated enzyme than from the nonphosphorylated enzyme migrated with authentic L- glutamyl-γ-propylhydroxamate in four chromatographic systems and on electrophoresis on paper at three different p H9s. The acyl phosphate "intermediate" in the phosphorylated form of the adenosine-triphosphatase therefore appears to be an L- glutamyl-γ-phosphate residue.
The determination of pressures and patterns for the male human buttocks and thigh in sitting utilizing conductive foam

Abstract Pressures and patterns for twelve male human buttocks and thighs in sitting in three different shaped seat pans were determined. Pressure was determined by multiple transducers situated geometrically on a conductive foam blanket which measured changes in resistance with an ohm meter as pressure was applied. The three chair seat pans consisted of a small round surgeons type stool, a standard biomechanic secretarial shaped chair, and a neutral posture chair which was a unique combination of a forward-sloping cultivator seat and an English saddle with wrap around leg trough support. Trunk-thigh posture angles of 90 and 127 deg for each chair were evaluated. The location of the maximum pressure points for all chair posture treatments had generally small tight patterns whose locations where consistent with the locations of the ischial tuberosities. The mean pressure was found to vary inversely with the total area. Thus, as the seat pan surface area decreased in total area in contact with the buttock-thigh, the larger the mean pressure became. Mean pressure values were also found to be in the same rank order and relative magnitude to subjective comfort for the buttock-thigh, conducted in related experiments on the chair-posture treatments. The neutral posture chair was found to reduce buttock-thigh maximum pressure from 118.94 mmHg (2.3 psi) to 62.06 mmHg (1.2 psi) and to reduce mean pressure by more than 50%.
Home Schooling of NK Cells

In this issue of Immunity, Chalifour et al. (2009) show that for natural killer (NK) cells to achieve their full effector potential, NK inhibitory receptors must developmentally interact with MHC-I ligands expressed in cis.
Basic biology of clozapine: electrophysiological and neuroendocrinological studies.

The effects of clozapine and other purported atypical antipsychotics were compared with those of typical antipsychotics within the neuroendocrine axis of the rat. Atypical antipsychotics (e.g., clozapine, thioridazine, melperone, setoperone and RMI 81582) differed from typical antipsychotics (e.g., haloperidol, chlorpromazine, cis-flupentixol and fluphenazine) in that they produced only a brief elevation in serum concentrations of prolactin but marked increases in serum or plasma concentrations of corticosterone and ACTH. Moreover, atypical antipsychotics, but not typical antipsychotics, acutely increased the activity of tuberoinfundibular dopamine neurons, as judged from the accumulation of DOPA in the median eminence after inhibition of decarboxylase activity. The effects of atypical antipsychotics on tuberoinfundibular dopamine neurons and corticosterone secretion were mimicked by neurotensin. It would appear that atypical antipsychotics elicit unique neuroendocrine responses that differentiate these agents from typical antipsychotic drugs.
Malignant transformation of a mouse epithelial cell line with poly cyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

Malignant transformation of a mouse epithelial cell line with poly cyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
Advancing analytical algorithms and pipelines for billions of microbial sequences

The vast number of microbial sequences resulting from sequencing efforts using new technologies require us to re-assess currently available analysis methodologies and tools. Here we describe trends in the development and distribution of software for analyzing microbial sequence data. We then focus on one widely used set of methods, dimensionality reduction techniques, which allow users to summarize and compare these vast datasets. We conclude by emphasizing the utility of formal software engineering methods for the development of computational biology tools, and the need for new algorithms for comparing microbial communities. Such large-scale comparisons will allow us to fulfill the dream of rapid integration and comparison of microbial sequence data sets, in a replicable analytical environment, in order to describe the microbial world we inhabit.
THE SPA2-RELATED PROTEIN, SPH1P, IS IMPORTANT FOR POLARIZED GROWTH IN YEAST

The Saccharomyces cerevisiae protein Sph1p is both structurally and functionally related to the polarity protein, Spa2p. Sph1p and Spa2p are predicted to share three 100-amino acid domains each exceeding 30% sequence identity, and the amino-terminal domain of each protein contains a direct repeat common to Homo sapiens and Caenorhabditis elegans protein sequences. sph1- and spa2-deleted cells possess defects in mating projection morphology and pseudohyphal growth. sph1(Delta) spa2(Delta) double mutants also exhibit a strong haploid invasive growth defect and an exacerbated mating projection defect relative to either sph1(Delta) or spa2(Delta) single mutants. Consistent with a role in polarized growth, Sph1p localizes to growth sites in a cell cycle-dependent manner: Sph1p concentrates as a cortical patch at the presumptive bud site in unbudded cells, at the tip of small, medium and large buds, and at the bud neck prior to cytokinesis. In pheromone-treated cells, Sph1p localizes to the tip of the mating projection. Proper localization of Sph1p to sites of active growth during budding and mating requires Spa2p. Sph1p interacts in the two-hybrid system with three mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase kinases (MAPKKs): Mkk1p and Mkk2p, which function in the cell wall integrity/cell polarization MAP kinase pathway, and Ste7p, which operates in the pheromone and pseudohyphal signaling response pathways. Sph1p also interacts weakly with STE11, the MAPKKK known to activate STE7. Moreover, two-hybrid interactions between SPH1 and STE7 and STE11 occur independently of STE5, a proposed scaffolding protein which interacts with several members of this MAP kinase module. We speculate that Spa2p and Sph1p may function during pseudohyphal and haploid invasive growth to help tether this MAP kinase module to sites of polarized growth. Our results indicate that Spa2p and Sph1p comprise two related proteins important for the control of cell morphogenesis in yeast.
Synthetic diamonds produce pressure of 125 GPa (1.25 Mbar)

Synthetic gray-blue diamonds were used as anvils in a diamond anvil cell to produce a pressure of 125 GPa (1.25 Mbar) in a gasketed sample. Pressure was measured by x-ray diffraction methods by using gold and iron as a calibrant and also by optical methods based on the shift of the fluorescence peaks of ruby with pressure. The future potential of synthetic diamonds for ultrapressure research is discussed.
An extension of moments calculations for optical absorption bands

Abstract In this paper the developments of Henry, Schnatterly and Slichter are extended by using a more general formulation of the principle of spectroscopic stability (for a site of symmetry Oh). The linear effects for any type of stress are obtained next. The expressions indicate how one can test the theory experimentally in a critical manner. This has not been done. The theory shows that one cannot expect to get more information on KCl from stress experiments than is now available. Finally, it is indicated how one may define the irreducible stresses and strains in an unambiguous manner by using the differential strain-energy function.
On the Number of Generators of Ideals in Local Cohen-Macaulay Rings

Of course, for 2-dimensional rings sufficiently high powers of the maximal ideal require arbitrarily large numbers of generators, so there can be no universal bound for the number of generators of an ideal. However our main results (Theorems 1 and 3) give bounds for ideals of fixed colength, and ideals with a fixed number of irreducible components primary to the maximal ideal in a 2-dimensional Cohen-Macaulay ring. We also show how to extend these results to results on the number of generators of ideals primary to the maximal ideal in higher dimensional Cohen-Macaulay rings. For a general survey of this and related problems, we refer the reader to the notes [Sally 21. Related estimates connecting multiplicity and number of generators have been obtained previously by J. Becker; see [12] and, particularly, [13].
Subgrade Characterization for Better Ground Improvement Design

A current research conducted at the University of Texas at Arlington is focusing on quantification of clay minerals in the fine fraction of the soil. The main intent of this research is to identify the dominating clay minerals in the soils to design more durable chemical stabilization method for subgrade soils supporting pavements. Such design will either replace or complement the current plasticity index (PI) based design. This paper summarizes available clay mineral identification methodologies including a select group of gravimetric methods to determine potassium, cationic exchange capacity and specific surface area properties. These properties are then used to quantify and identify clay minerals in the soils. Two clayey soils were used in the experimental studies to illustrate the methods for determining the amounts of various clay minerals. Test results from these studies are presented in this paper.
Construction of Models from Groups of Permutations

In [3] we have associated to a structure an ordinal which gives us information about elementary substructures of the structure. For example a structure whose ascending chain number (as we call the ordinal) is ω could be called Noetherian since all ascending elementary chains inside it are finite (and there are arbitrarily large finite chains). Theorem 2 shows that such structures exist. In fact we prove that for any α ω 1 there is a structure whose ascending chain number is α . The construction is based on the existence of a certain group of permutations of ω (see Theorem 1). The second part of this paper deals with the relevance of the chain number to the study of Jonsson algebras.
A Top-Down, Constraint-Driven Design Methodology for Analog Integrated Circuits

This paper describes a top-down, constraint-driven design methodology for analog integrated circuits. Some of the tools that support this methodology are described. These include behavioral simulation tools, tools for physical assembly, and module generators. Finally, examples of behavioral simulation with optimization and physical assembly are provided to better illustrate the methodology and its integration with the tool set.
Frequency stabilization of the 1064-nm Nd:YAG lasers to Doppler-broadened lines of iodine

A diode-laser-pumped Nd:YAG laser is frequency stabilized by locking its frequency-doubled output to the center of unsaturated (Doppler-broadened) transitions of the (127)I(2) molecule. The successive two-sample deviation of the laser frequency (root Allan variance) is kept below 5.67 kHz, or 2 parts in 10(11) of the laser frequency, for averaging times between 10 ms and 40 s. This locking technique is simpler and requires less laser power than locking to Doppler-free lines.
Dietary intake and body mass index in HIV-positive and HIV-negative drug abusers of Hispanic ethnicity.

OBJECTIVE Malnutrition in drug abusers has been attributed to poor diet. However, previous studies are conflicting. Many studies have not considered possible concurrent HIV disease. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between drug abuse and dietary intake in Hispanic Americans with and without HIV infection. DESIGN Dietary intake was measured using 3-day food records and 24-hour dietary recalls in three groups: HIV-positive drug abusers, HIV-negative drug abusers and HIV-positive persons who do not use drugs ('non-drug abusers'). SETTING The baseline data from a prospective cohort study of the role of drug abuse in HIV/AIDS weight loss and malnutrition conducted in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. SUBJECTS The first 284 participants to enroll in the study. RESULTS HIV-positive drug abusers had a body mass index (BMI) that was significantly lower than that of HIV-positive non-drug abusers. Reported energy, fat and fibre intakes did not differ between groups. All groups had median reported intakes of vitamin A, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, selenium and zinc that were in excess of the dietary reference values (DRI). Intakes of alpha-tocopherol were below the DRI, but did not differ from intakes of the general US population. However, increasing levels of drug abuse were associated with lower reported intakes of vitamin B6, vitamin B12, selenium and zinc. CONCLUSIONS Overall, this study does not support the notion that dietary intake can explain the lower BMI of HIV-positive drug abusers. Further studies examining non-dietary determinants of nutritional status in drug abusers are warranted.
Biomechanical Comparison of Dual Interlocking Single Loop and Double Loop Tension Band Techniques to the Classic AO Tension Band Technique for Repair of Olecranon Osteotomies in Dogs

Objective— To compare olecranon fragment stability between the classic tension band wire (TBW) technique with the wire placed either in contact with (Arbeitsgemeinschaft fur Osteosynthesefragen [AO]), or not in contact with, a Kirschner (K)-wire (AOW) to 2 novel wire patterns: a dual interlocking single loop (DISL) and a double loop (DL). Study Design— Ex vivo mechanical evaluation on cadaveric bones. Sample Population— Canine ulnae (n=40) with olecranon osteotomies repaired with 2 K-wires and 1 of 4 TBW constructs. Methods— Single load to failure applied through the triceps tendon. Displacement was measured from images captured from digital video. Techniques were compared based on the load resisted when the olecranon fragment was displaced 0.5, 1, and 2 mm. Results— At 0.5 mm of displacement, the DISL construct resisted more load than the AOW construct (505 versus 350 N; P=.05). AO and DL constructs resisted an intermediate load (345 and 330 N, respectively). There was no significant difference between groups at 1 mm of displacement. At 2 mm of displacement, DL (785 N) resisted more load than AO (522 N, P=.01) and AOW (492 N, P=.03) groups. Conclusions— DISL constructs provided similar stability to classic TBW constructs whereas DL constructs were more stable at higher loads. Clinical Relevance— The DL construct is easy to perform, less bulky, and provides comparable fragment stability to standard TBW techniques at functional loads. Surgical method is important for optimal performance of all TBW constructs.
Tagging stream data for rich real-time services

In recent years, data streams have become ubiquitous as technology is improving and the prices of portable devices are falling, e.g., sensor networks, location-based services. Most data streams transmit only data tuples based on which continuous queries are evaluated. In this paper, we propose to enrich data streams with a new type of metadata called streaming tags or short tick-tags. The fundamental premise of tagging is that users can label data using uncontrolled vocabulary, and these tags can be exploited in a wide variety of applications, such as data exploration, data search, and to produce "enriched" with additional semantics, thus more informative query results. In this paper we focus primarily on the problem of continuous query processing with streaming tags and tagged objects, and address the tick-tag semantic issues as well as efficiency concerns. Our main contributions are as follows. First, we specify a general and flexible Stream Tag Framework (or short STF) that supports a stream-centric approach to tagging, and where tick-tags, attached to streaming objects are treated as first-class citizens. Second, under STF, users can query tags explicitly as well as implicitly by outputting the tags of the base data together with query results. Finally, we have implemented STF in a prototype Data Stream Management System, and through a set of performance experiments, we show that the cost of stream tagging is small and the approach is scalable to a large percentage of tagged objects.
Performance analysis tool for cache-based real-time systems with preemptions

Dependable real-time systems are essential to time-critical applications. The systems that run these applications require high degrees of performance and predictability. Although memory caching has long been known as a means of increasing system performance, it is typically unpredictable in nature. This paper presents a technique of using preferred preemption points to increase the predictability and performance of cache-based real-time systems and describes a performance analysis tool and methodology designed to select and evaluate preemption points. Performance results obtained by using the tool are presented for various system configurations. System configurations are defined by such parameters as cache type and preemption frequency. In some instances, results have shown a 10% reduction in execution time with preferred preemption points. Such savings in execution time provide greater flexibility in scheduling and increase throughput of time-critical tasks. Use of the technique increases the ability to calculate system preemption overhead. This leads to greater determinism and consequently performance, and provides for tighter bounds on calculated worst-case execution times.
Scaling-up support vector machines using boosting algorithm

In the recent years support vector machines (SVM) have been successfully applied to solve a large number of classification problems. Training an SVM, usually posed as a quadratic programming (QP) problem, often becomes a challenging task for the large data sets due to the high memory requirements and slow convergence. We propose to apply boosting to Platt's sequential minimal optimization (SMO) algorithm (1999) and to use resulting Boost-SMO method for speeding and scaling up the SVM training. Experiments on three commonly used benchmark data sets show that Boost-SMO achieves classification accuracy comparable to conventional SMO but is a factor of 3 to 10 faster. The speed-up could easily be orders of magnitude on the larger data sets.
A scalable parallel H.264 decoder on the cell broadband engine architecture

The H.264 video codec provides exceptional video compression while imposing dramatic increases in computational complexity over previous standards. While exploiting parallelism in H.264 is notoriously difficult, successful parallel implementations promise substantial performance gains, particularly as High Definition (HD) content penetrates a widening variety of applications. We present a highly scalable parallelization scheme implemented on IBM's multicore Cell Broadband Engine (CBE) and based on FFmpeg's open source H.264 video decoder. We address resource limitations and complex data dependencies to achieve nearly ideal decoding speedup for the parallelizable portion of the encoded stream. Our decoder achieves better performance than previous implementations, and is deeply scalable for large format video. We discuss architecture and codec specific performance optimizations, code overlays, data structures, memory access scheduling, and vectorization.
Nuclear Factor-κB, an Unappreciated Tumor Suppressor

The notion that nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) is a tumor-promoting transcription factor has become a widely accepted dogma in biology. However, recent findings suggest an inhibitory role for NF-κB in carcinogenesis and tumorigenesis. Although the tumor suppressor–like effect of NF-κB remains to be rigorously established by further studies using cellular and animal models, these latest findings warrant caution with respect to blockage of NF-κB activation as a broad strategy in treating cancers. [Cancer Res 2007;67(23):11093–8]
(Z)-2-(1,3-Benzodioxol-5-ylmethylene)-1-azabicyclo[2.2.2]octan-3-one

Crystals of the title compound, C15H15NO3, were obtained from a condensation reaction of piperonal with 1-aza­bicyclo­[2.2.2]octan-3-one and subsequent crystallization of the product from ethyl acetate. The geometry about the C=C double bond connecting the 1,3-benzodioxole moiety to the aza­bicylic ring system is Z.