cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Interpreting low scores on the WISC—R Third Factor: It's more than distractibility.

The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised consists of three factors: Perceptual Organization, Verbal Comprehension, and the Third Factor, also called Freedom from Distractibility. Children referred for learning and behavioral problems frequently obtain low Third Factor scores. Although resistance to the effects of distracting stimuli may be necessary for optimum performance on the Third Factor, many other hypotheses may account for low scores. This article reviews studies that elucidate the meaning of low Third Factor scores. One promising interpretation is that the Third Factors reflects «executive» and short-term memory processes involved in planning, monitoring, and evaluating task performance
SR proteins and hnRNP H regulate the splicing of the HIV-1 tev-specific exon 6D

A naturally arising point mutation in the env gene of HIV-1 activates the aberrant inclusion of the cryptic exon 6D into most viral messages, leading to inefficient viral replication. We set out to understand how a single nucleotide substitution could cause such a dramatic change in splicing. We have determined that the exon 6D mutation promotes binding of the SR protein SC35 to the exon. Mutant exon 6D sequences function as a splicing enhancer when inserted into an enhancer-dependent splicing construct. hnRNP H family proteins bind to the enhancer as well; their binding is dependent on the sequence GGGA located just downstream of the point mutation and depletion– reconstitution studies show that hnRNP H is essential for enhancer activity. A polypurine sequence located further downstream in exon 6D binds SR proteins but acts as an exonic splicing silencer. hnRNP H is required for interaction of U1 snRNP with the enhancer, independent of the point mutation. We propose that SC35 binding to the point mutation region may convert the hnRNP H–U1 snRNP complex into a splicing enhancer.
A study of the interactions among adenosine triphosphate, epinephrine, and magnesium ions☆

Abstract The interactions among adenosine triphosphate, Mg+2, and epinephrine at pH's below 7.0 have been studied by observing the effects of these interactions on the chemical shifts and line widths of their 1H and 31P nuclear magnetic resonance spectra. Mg+2 is tightly bound by the β- and γ-phosphate groups of adenosine triphosphate and there is a weak association between this chelate and epinephrine. In the ternary complex, the aromatic ring of epinephrine overlaps the purine ring of adenosine triphosphate and there appears to be an ionic interaction between the protonated amino group and the α-phosphate of adenosine triphosphate. It was also found that dichloroisoproterenol forms essentially the same type of ternary complex.
Blood pressure control and progression of CKD in children.

Hypertension both accelerates and is exacerbated by progression of chronic kidney disease (CKD). In children with CKD, hypertension is common and often undertreated. A report by the North American Pediatric Renal Transplant Cooperative Study in 2002 showed that nearly half of the children enrolled in the Chronic Renal Insufficiency arm of the registry had hypertension based upon a casual blood pressure at the time of enrollment.(1) Hypertensive children with CKD developed either end-stage renal disease or loss of glomerular filtration rate (GFR) > 10 ml/min/1.73m2 significantly more often than normotensive children with CKD. In a recent cross-sectional analysis of baseline blood pressure in almost 400 children in the CKiD (Chronic Kidney Disease in Children) cohort study, hypertension was common and frequently not adequately controlled.(2) The overall prevalence of systolic or diastolic hypertension was over 50%, with 13% of participants having uncontrolled hypertension. After multivariable adjustment, both nephrotic-range proteinuria and non-use of an agent to block the renin angiotensin system (RAS; angiotensin-converting enzyme [ACE] inhibitor or angiotensin receptor blocker) were associated with having uncontrolled hypertension. More aggressive treatment of hypertension is a clear opportunity to improve the treatment of children with CKD. Although substantial randomized controlled trial data in adults with CKD demonstrate that drugs blocking the renin-angiotensin II-aldosterone system, especially ACE inhibitors, both decrease proteinuria and slow CKD progression more than conventional antihypertensive therapy (3–6), little direct evidence has been available to support the generalization of these findings to children with CKD. Furthermore, although studies in adults have suggested that lower blood pressure targets may further slow CKD progression (7), this has not previously been shown in children. A recent study by the ESCAPE (Effect of Strict Blood Pressure Control and ACE Inhibition on the Progression of Chronic Renal Failure in Pediatric Patients) trial group, published in 2009 in the New England Journal of Medicine, addresses both of these gaps in the current literature on slowing progression of CKD in children. (8)
Parallel maskless optical lithography for prototyping, low-volume production, and research

Earlier we reported on a proof-of-concept maskless-lithography system that used an array of Fresnel zone plates to focus multiple beams of 442 nm light onto a substrate, and micromechanics for multiplexing light to the several zone plates, enabling patterns of arbitrary geometry, at 350 nm linewidth, to be written. We referred to the technique as zone-plate-array lithography (ZPAL). We also demonstrated zone-plate-array microscopy. Here, we report on a “preprototype” ZPAL system operating at an exposure wavelength of 400 nm, capable of quick-turn-around, maskless lithography. We describe the lithography results with this system as well the development of high-speed data delivery systems, high-numerical-aperture zone plates (up to 0.95), and a multiplexing scheme that will enable us to move to a “full-prototype” system capable of 210 nm feature sizes at a moderate but useful throughput of ∼0.25 cm2 in 20 min.
Recombinant bovine somatotropin blunts plasma tumor necrosis factor-alpha, cortisol, and thromboxane-B2 responses to endotoxin in vivo.

In vivo studies determined the effects of recombinant bovine somatotropin (bST; sometribove) administration (0.1 mg/kg.day, im) to calves on the increases in plasma immunoreactive tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF alpha), prostacyclin [6-keto-prostaglandin F1 alpha (6KP)], thromboxane-B2 (TXB), and cortisol (C) that occurred after endotoxin challenge (ET). Two ETs were administered 5 days apart to test the effect of bST on the natural attenuation of hormone and cytokine responses that occurs after repeated challenge with endotoxin. Calves (n = 6) were treated with bST for 5 days. On day 6, the first ET was administered (Escherichia coli; 055:B5; 0.2 microgram/kg, i.v.). Blood was sampled before and hourly after ET through 6 h. For the next 4 days, bST injections continued, and ET was repeated 1 day later. Six additional calves were treated with bicarbonate buffer as contemporary controls for the bST and were similarly challenged with endotoxin. Plasma TNF alpha, C, 6KP, and TXB were significantly increased after each ET. The increases in TNF alpha, C, and TXB were blunted after the second Et compared to those after the first in both untreated and bST-treated animals. The increases in plasma TNF alpha and C and peak plasma TXB and TXB/6KP ratios were smaller in bST-treated than in untreated after the first ET. TNF alpha receptor binding was studied in hepatic microsomal fractions from three bST-treated and three untreated calves. Microsomal fractions from bST-treated calves bound 40% less TNF alpha (5.97 vs. 9.96 pmol/mg) than similar fractions from controls. The data indicate that bST decreases TNF alpha, TXB, and C responses to ET and reduces the TNF alpha-binding capacity of hepatic membranes, suggesting a multiplicity of sites where bST might affect the physiological response to endotoxin.
Endogenous beta-galactosidase expression in murine pancreatic islets.

To the Editor: The tissue-/cell-specific recombinase system, the Cre/loxP system, has become a very useful tool to conditionally inactivate or activate gene function [1–6]. This system is based on the ability of Cre to catalyse the excision of DNA flanked by loxP site recognition sequences. A number of studies on cell lineage in pancreatic cells have been performed by intercrossing cell-specific Cre-expressing transgenic mice and ROSAβgeo26 (ROSA26) mice, which carry the gene for bacterial beta-galactosidase (lacZ) [7]. In the double transgenic offspring, lacZ is expressed where Cre was expressed at a high enough level to excise the floxed stop codon. Commonly, X-gal staining is used to detect beta-galactosidase activity: beta-galactosidase catalyses the hydrolysis of X-gal to an indolyl alcohol, which then oxidises to form an intense blue indigo stain. While specific induction of lacZ by precise control of Cre, as well as leakage of beta-galactosidase by spontaneous Cre excision in double transgenic mouse, have been well studied, little work has dealt with the contribution of endogenous beta-galactosidase activity to false-positive results. Heart, liver, spleen, kidney, brain and skeletal muscle from mouse, rat and rabbit [8], and cultured human foetal pancreas [9], have been studied for endogenous betagalactosidase activity [8]. In cultured human foetal pancreas, the mRNA expression and enzyme activity of beta-galactosidase are developmentally regulated, peaking at 24 weeks of gestation and declining to low levels in the adult [9]. Endogenous beta-galactosidase activity in these organs was rarely detected following incubation at a pH greater than 7.5. In contrast, bacterial beta-galactosidase activity in the ROSAβgeo26 was strongly detected at pH 8.0–9.0 [8]. In the mouse pancreas, we evaluated endogenous beta-galactosidase expression and studied factors that may contribute to false-positive results. Firstly, to determine expression of the endogenous betagalactosidase mRNA in various tissues, we performed RTPCR on cDNAs from mouse islets, liver, kidney and spleen as well as from pancreatic beta cells from mouse insulin promoter I (MIP)–green fluorescent protein (GFP) mice [10], purified with FACS by their GFP expression (Fig. 1). The sizes of the PCR products for beta-galactosidase and the internal control TATA-binding protein were 330 and 190 bp, respectively. Pancreatic beta cells and islets as well as other organs expressed endogenous beta-galactosidase (Glb1) mRNA (Fig. 1). Since it is important to determine endogenous betagalactosidase enzyme activity, we performed X-gal staining on sections of pancreas and kidney from normal adult C57BL/6 mice; endogenous beta-galactosidase is known to be expressed in the kidney. From mice cardiac-perfused
Adsorption isotherm studies of methyl chloride on MgO

The wetting properties of methyl chloride ${(\mathrm{C}\mathrm{H}}_{3}\mathrm{C}\mathrm{l})$ on MgO (100) surfaces have been investigated between 132 and 180 K using high-resolution adsorption isotherms. At low temperatures only one adsorption step is observed. At higher temperatures, i.e., $Tg158.9\mathrm{K},$ a second isotherm step appears, signaling the presence of a layering transition. Unlike adsorption behavior on graphite, however, there is no evidence of a low-to-high-density transition in the monolayer phase. In addition to the layering properties, the isothermal compressibility and isosteric heat of adsorption of the adsorbed films are calculated.
Examples of relativistic rigid-body translations

The defining equations for relativistic rigid-body translations, derived in an earlier paper by the author, are solved for a number of situations.
Combinatorics of TCP reordering

We study a combinatorial problem motivated by a receiver-oriented model of TCP traffic from Istrate et al. (2006), that incorporates information on both arrival times, and the dynamics of packet IDs. An important component of this model is a many-to-one mapping FB from sequences of IDs into a sequence of buffer sizes. We show that: i) Given a buffer sequence B, constructing a sequence A of IDs that belongs to the preimage of B is no harder than finding matchings in bipartite graph. ii) Counting the number of sequences A of packet IDs that belong to the preimage of B can be done in linear time in the special case when there exists a constant upper bound on the maximum entry in B. iii) This problem also has a fully polynomial randomized approximation scheme when we have a constant upper bound on the number of repeats in the packet sequences in the preimage. We also provide experimental evidence that the two previous results suffice to efficiently count the number of preimages for buffer sequences observed in real TCP data.
Prosthetic Aortic Stenosis A Method to Prevent Its Occurrence by Measurement of Aortic Size from Preoperative Aortogram

A cause of early death after aortic valve replacement with a caged-ball prosthesis is obstruction to left ventricular outflow because the prosthesis is too large for the aortic root. Of 68 patients dying within two months of aortic valve replacement, death in ten, each of whom had had intractable low cardiac output after operation, was attributed at necropsy to prosthetic aortic stenosis, despite the use of small sized (8A Starr-Edwards) prostheses in seven of them. The diameters of the aorta at the sinotubular junction, determined from the preoperative cineangiograms, in the seven patients with prosthetic stenosis were 30 in all but one, and the poppet clearances ranged from 12 to 19 mm (avg. 15)...
Singleton Preterm Birth: Risk Factors and Association with Assisted Reproductive Technology

The objectives of this study were to determine risk factors for early (less than 34 weeks gestation) and late (34–36 weeks gestation) preterm singleton birth, by assisted reproductive technology (ART) status. We linked data from Massachusetts birth records and ART records representing singleton live births from 1997 through 2004. Using multinomial regression models, we assessed risk factors for early and late preterm birth by ART status. From 1997 to 2004 in Massachusetts, among non-ART births, risk factors for early and late preterm birth were similar and included women <15 and ≥35 years of age, those of non-white race or Hispanic ethnicity, those with ≤12 years of education, those with chronic diabetes, those with gestational diabetes, those with gestational hypertension, those who smoked during pregnancy, those who used fertility medications, and those who had not had a previous live birth. Among ART births, risk factors for early and late preterm birth differed and odds of early preterm birth were increased among women with ≤12 years of education while odds of late preterm birth were increased among women with gestational diabetes. Odds of both early and late preterm birth were increased among women of non-white race or Hispanic ethnicity and among women with gestational hypertension. Among non-ART births, increased risk for preterm birth was more strongly related to socioeconomic factors than among ART births. Medical conditions were associated with an increased risk for preterm birth regardless of women’s ART status. Efforts to prevent preterm births should focus on reducing modifiable risk factors.
Cerebral Blood Flow and Oxygen Consumption in Rat, Measured with Microspheres or Xenon

The cerebral blood flow and, in some rats, the cerebral rate of oxygen consumption were measured in three groups of male rats. Fractionation of radioisotope-labeled microspheres was used to measure regional cerebral blood flow in four parts of the rat brain. The arterial and cerebral venous concentrations of radioactive xenon during desaturation were used to measure the blood flow and oxygen consumption of cortex when venous blood was collected from the superior sagittal sinus, or of whole brain when the transverse sinus was sampled. The regional cerebral flow measured with microspheres had a large standard error reflecting the technical difficulty of this method. The cerebral blood flow measured with xenon was higher when venous blood was sampled from the superior sagittal sinus than when sampled from the transverse sinus, but cerebral oxygen consumption rates were similar. The difference reflects the greater trauma involved in the superior sagittal approach and possible extracerebral contamination present in the transverse sinus approach.
Transcription Elongation Factors Repress Transcription Initiation from Cryptic Sites

Previous studies have suggested that transcription elongation results in changes in chromatin structure. Here we present studies of Saccharomyces cerevisiae Spt6, a conserved protein implicated in both transcription elongation and chromatin structure. Our results show that, surprisingly, an spt6 mutant permits aberrant transcription initiation from within coding regions. Furthermore, transcribed chromatin in the spt6 mutant is hypersensitive to micrococcal nuclease, and this hypersensitivity is suppressed by mutational inactivation of RNA polymerase II. These results suggest that Spt6 plays a critical role in maintaining normal chromatin structure during transcription elongation, thereby repressing transcription initiation from cryptic promoters. Other elongation and chromatin factors, including Spt16 and histone H3, appear to contribute to this control.
Effect of primary organic sea spray emissions on cloud condensation nuclei concentrations

Abstract. This work estimates the primary marine organic aerosol global emission source and its impact on cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) concentrations by implementing an organic sea spray source function into a series of global aerosol simulations. The source function assumes that a fraction of the sea spray emissions, depending on the local chlorophyll concentration, is organic matter in place of sea salt. Effect on CCN concentrations (at 0.2% supersaturation) is modeled using the Two-Moment Aerosol Sectional (TOMAS) microphysics algorithm coupled to the GISS II-prime general circulation model. The presence of organics affects CCN activity in competing ways: by reducing the amount of solute available in the particle and decreasing surface tension of CCN. To model surfactant effects, surface tension depression data from seawater samples taken near the Georgia coast were applied as a function of carbon concentrations. A global marine organic aerosol emission rate of 17.7 Tg C yr−1 is estimated from the simulations. Marine organics exert a localized influence on CCN(0.2%) concentrations, decreasing regional concentrations by no more than 5% and by less than 0.5% over most of the globe, assuming direct replacement of sea salt aerosol with organic aerosol. The decrease in CCN concentrations results from the fact that the decrease in particle solute concentration outweighs the organic surfactant effects. The low sensitivity of CCN(0.2%) to the marine organic emissions is likely due to the small compositional changes: the mass fraction of OA in accumulation mode aerosol increases by only ~15% in a biologically active region of the Southern Ocean. To test the sensitivity to uncertainty in the sea spray emissions process, we relax the assumption that sea spray aerosol number and mass remain fixed and instead can add to sea spray emissions rather than replace existing sea salt. In these simulations, we find that marine organic aerosol can increase CCN by up to 50% in the Southern Ocean and 3.7% globally during the austral summer. This vast difference in CCN impact highlights the need for further observational exploration of the sea spray aerosol emission process as well as evaluation and development of model parameterizations.
Morphologic variability of Pennsylvanian lyginopterid seed ferns

Abstract The current level of understanding of the morphological variability of Pennsylvanian lyginopterid seed ferns is reviewed. This group of pteridosperms that ranges throughout the Carboniferous is represented by a heterogeneous assemblage of stems, leaves, ovules and pollen organs. Vegetative organs have been useful in tracing the origin of the eustele from a protostele, while the fern-like fronds appear to have had their origin from a non-planated branching system. The small radially symmetrical ovules, while exhibiting some diversity in the organization of integument, demonstrate little apparent alteration in pollen-receiving mechanisms and reproductive versatility. Lyginopterid pollen organs are synangiate and include both radial and bilateral forms. The stratigraphically earliest types are radial and borne upright on naked branches, while later forms are usually bilateral and typically associated with laminar foliage. Pollen is morphologically and structurally similar to the spores of many ferns, and probably germinated through the proximal suture. The apparent homogenous nature of lyginopterid seed ferns may indicate that relatively little evolution had taken place over a long geological time span. However, evidence from some compression floras suggests that far more diversity exists within the order in a non-swamp environment than had previously been thought. Current concepts about lyginopterid pteridosperms that have been developed from a small group of plants in a relatively homogeneous environment may need considerable revision as we learn more about the non-swamp inhabiting forms.
“The Only Thing That Isn't Sustainable . . . Is the Farmer”: Social Sustainability and the Politics of Class among Pacific Northwest Farmers Engaged in Sustainable Farming

Using interviews and participant observation at Pacific Northwest sustainable farming operations, this article analyzes the complex ways that class privileges and labor practices impact the social sustainability of sustainable agriculture. While the farmers in this study were highly aware of and reflexive about the class politics of sustainable agriculture, they also participated in a classed system that restricts access to sustainable farming as an occupation even as it exploits the labor of the farmer in order to regulate prices. In particular, the farmers in the study benefited from educational privileges and often-lucrative off-farm income, they expressed a desire to make their goods more accessible and affordable even as they marketed their foods to their upper-middle-class consumers, and they used their own idealism as justification to exploit their own difficult labor on the farm. Using a qualitative, ethnographic approach, this research explores the negotiations between farmers' social ideals and the actual practice of sustainable agriculture in a capitalist system.
The Role of Diagnostic Imaging in Identifying Cervical Metastases in Oral Cavity Cancer

Radiologic imaging is an integral part of the diagnostic evaluation of the newly diagnosed or suspected head and neck cancer patient. At the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, for most head and neck malignancies we prefer CT for evaluation of the neck. Small nodes, or those that are nonpalpable because of location (e.g., lateral retropharyngeal or deep to the sternocleidomastoid muscle) but are nevertheless abnormal based on necrosis, shape, clustering, or other criteria, can be diagnosed with CT. This diagnosis, important for its treatment and prognostic implications, requires knowledge not only of the known or suspected primary cancer, its location, and expected sites of nodal drainage, but also of the proper imaging technique and appearance of nodal metastases. This chapter will familiarize the reader with imaging strategies, radiographic appearance, and other findings that may diagnose or suggest a likehood of nodal metastasis.
Metric learning for reinforcement learning agents

A key component of any reinforcement learning algorithm is the underlying representation used by the agent. While reinforcement learning (RL) agents have typically relied on hand-coded state representations, there has been a growing interest in learning this representation. While inputs to an agent are typically fixed (i.e., state variables represent sensors on a robot), it is desirable to automatically determine the optimal relative scaling of such inputs, as well as to diminish the impact of irrelevant features. This work introduces Holler, a novel distance metric learning algorithm, and combines it with an existing instance-based RL algorithm to achieve precisely these goals. The algorithms' success is highlighted via empirical measurements on a set of six tasks within the mountain car domain.
Mathematical model of reentry of cardiac excitation

A computer model of a ring-shaped cardiac fiber was used to examine responses of propagation to premature stimuli under different degrees of cell-to-cell coupling and membrane excitability. Nonsustained and sustained reentries were induced by a properly timed premature stimulus. The likelihood of inducing reentry is proportional to the degree of cellular uncoupling, demonstrating the importance of cellular uncoupling in the genesis of reentry. Alternans in action potential duration were also demonstrated during circus movement and were caused by the alternating kinetic properties of the slow ionic currents. >
Metalloproteomics as an interdisciplinary area involving proteins and metals

The study of metals in biological systems is an emerging scientific field, receiving great attention as a new frontier, because it brings together researchers from many areas, including biology, chemistry, geology, medicine, physics and pharmacy. New possibilities in terms of strategies and instrumentation (microwave-assisted extraction, laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, Fourier transformed ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry and others) have greatly improved the sample preparation, identification, localization and quantification of metals in proteins, together forming the basis of metalloproteomics. Therefore, this area forms an important bridge between researchers from different backgrounds. Here, we review the techniques themselves for qualitative and quantitative metalloproteomics, and provide evidence in the form of several example of different kinds of expertise working together to produce coherent and effective results in the area.
Nonlinear management in technologically‐induced fields

Four key words, ‘technology,’ ‘environment,’ ‘nonlinear,’ and ‘field,’ are defined with special reference to management in high-technology environments. Evolving system-environment interrelationships are described in terms of several systems theories, and a number of laws and principles, useful as heuristics, are presented. Some assumptions of ‘linear’ management are summarized. The consequences of applying linear thinking to nonlinear situations is discussed in considerable detail. Particular attention is paid to the continued use of a Machine Model of Humanity and to the decline of American competitiveness. A concluding section presents some difficulties involved in helping American top management. Especially, the logic of the American management system is questioned.
Normalizing the Hyperlink

This study examines the formation of linking norms among political bloggers and professional journalists. Through in-depth interviews with Web editors, reporters, and bloggers within and outside professional newsrooms, it explores the institutional and cultural forces at work in determining whom blogs and news sites link to, and in what contexts. Drawing on the framework of institutionalism, this study aims to supplement research on journalistic normalization and hyperlink patterns by providing a fuller understanding of the processes by which professional journalism and the political blogosphere mutually adapt toward new norms. It finds a significant role for blogging’s cultural values in establishing the importance of linking within professional newsrooms, but also a heavy influence on journalists’ linking practices from bureaucratic processes within those newsrooms.
Functionalization vs. fragmentation: n-aldehyde oxidation mechanisms and secondary organic aerosol formation

Because of their relatively well-understood chemistry and atmospheric relevance, aldehydes represent a good model system for carbon–carbon fragmentation reactions in organic-aerosol aging mechanisms. Small aldehydes such as ethanal and propanal react with OH radicals under high NOx conditions to form formaldehyde and ethanal, respectively, with nearly unit yield. CO2 is formed as a coproduct. This path implies the formation of the Cn−1 aldehyde, or an aldehyde with one fewer methylene group than the parent. However, as the carbon number of the n-aldehyde increases, reaction with the carbon backbone becomes more likely and the Cn−1 formation path becomes less important. In this work we oxidized n-pentanal, n-octanal, n-undecanal and n-tridecanal with OH radicals at high NOx. The Cn−1 aldehyde molar yields after the peroxyl radical + NO reaction were 69 ± 15, 36 ± 10, 16 ± 5 and 4 ± 1%, respectively. Complementary structure–activity relationship calculations of important rate constants enable estimates of branching ratios between several intermediates of the Cnn-aldehyde reaction with OH: Cn peroxyacyl nitrate versus Cn alkoxyacyl radical formation, Cn−1 alkyl nitrate versus Cn−1 alkoxy radical, and Cn−1 aldehyde formation versus isomerization products. We also measured SOA mass yields, which we compare with analogous n-alkanes to understand the effect of fragmentation on organic-aerosol formation.
FERMI: a femtocell resource management system forinterference mitigation in OFDMA networks

The demand for increased spectral efficiencies is driving the next generation broadband access networks towards deploying smaller cells (femtocells) with sophisticated air interface technologies (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access or OFDMA). The projected dense deployment of femtocells however, makes interference and hence resource management both critical and extremely challenging. In this paper, we design and implement one of the first resource management systems, FERMI, for OFDMA-based femtocell networks. As part of its design, FERMI (i) provides resource isolation in the frequency domain (as opposed to time) to leverage power pooling across cells to improve capacity; (ii) uses measurement-driven triggers to intelligently distinguish clients that require just link adaptation from those that require resource isolation; (iii) incorporates mechanisms that enable the joint scheduling of both types of clients in the same frame; and (iv) employs efficient, scalable algorithms to determine a fair resource allocation across the entire network with high utilization and low overhead. We implement FERMI on a prototype four-cell WiMAX femtocell testbed and show that it yields significant gains over conventional approaches.
WTP- and QALY-Based Approaches to Valuing Health for Policy: Common Ground and Disputed Territory

This paper discusses links between two approaches to the value of health: the willingness to pay approach of environmental economics and the quality-adjusted life year approach of health economics. The approaches are used in cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness analyses of health interventions. Despite fundamental differences in the decision contexts and conceptual foundations of the two approaches, in current practice they are likely to lead to similar policy decisions. The paper also shows how research on the quality-adjusted life year (QALY) can be used to fill in gaps in the willingness to pay literature. The paper sketches a simple model that shows how to ``QALY-fy the value of a statistical life;'' i.e., how to combine QALY estimates with estimates of the value of a statistical life to estimate willingness to pay for morbidity risks.
The Changing Chicken: Chooks, Cooks, and Culinary Culture

The Changing Chicken: Chooks, Cooks, and Culinary Culture Jane Dixon Sydney, Australia: University of South Wales Press, 2002.
Electrical characteristics of multi-layer power distribution grids

The design of robust and area efficient power distribution networks for high speed, high complexity integrated circuits has become a challenging task. The integrity of the high frequency signals depends upon the impedance characteristics of the on-chip power distribution networks. The electrical characteristics of these multi-layer power distribution grids and the relevant design implications are the subject of this paper. Each grid layer within a multilayer power distribution grid typically has significantly different electrical properties. Unlike single layer grids, the electrical characteristics of a multi-layer grid can vary significantly with frequency. As the frequency increases, a large share of the current flow is transfered from the low resistance upper layers to the low inductance lower layers. The inductance of a multi-layer grid therefore decreases with frequency, while the resistance increases with frequency. Therefore, as compared to power distribution grids built exclusively in the upper, low resistance metal layers, a multi-layer power distribution grid extending to the lower interconnect layers exhibits superior high frequency impedance characteristics. An analytic model is also presented to determine the impedance characteristics of a multi-layer grid from the inductive and resistive properties of the comprising individual grid layers.
Structural stability of unsupervised learning in feedback neural networks

Structural stability is proved for a large class of unsupervised nonlinear feedback neural networks, adaptive bidirectional associative memory (ABAM) models. The approach extends the ABAM models to the random-process domain as systems of stochastic differential equations and appends scaled Brownian diffusions. It is also proved that this much larger family of models, random ABAM (RABAM) models, is globally stable. Intuitively, RABAM equilibria equal ABAM equilibria that vibrate randomly. The ABAM family includes many unsupervised feedback and feedforward neural models. All RABAM models permit Brownian annealing. The RABAM noise suppression theorem characterizes RABAM system vibration. The mean-squared activation and synaptic velocities decrease exponentially to their lower hounds, the respective temperature-scaled noise variances. The many neuronal and synaptic parameters missing from such neural network models are included, but as net random unmodeled effects. They do not affect the structure of real-time global computations. >
A prospective study of weight gain during the college freshman and sophomore years.

Abstract Objective To assess the prevalence of weight gain among male and female college freshmen. Methods Study 1 examined weight change over freshman and sophomore years among 904 students attending a state university in Indiana, from 2002–2004. Study 2 examined weight and BMI change over the freshman year among 382 students attending a private university in Rhode Island, from 2004–2006. Results 77% of Study 1 participants and 70% of Study 2 participants gained weight during their freshman year, largely during the first semester. In Study 1, weight gain averaged 3.5 kg in females and males; in Study 2, weight gain averaged 1.6 kg for females and 2.5 kg for males. Students continued to gain weight their sophomore year, with females 4.2 kg and males 4.3 kg heavier than at start of college. Overweight/obesity rates increased from baseline to end of freshman year for Study 1 (21.6% to 36%) and Study 2 participants (14.7% to 17.8%). Conclusion The first years of college may be a critical developmental window for establishing weight gain prevention efforts.
Analytics-Driven Dashboards Enable Leading Indicators for Requirements and Designs of Large-Scale Systems

Mining software repositories using analytics-driven dashboards provides a unifying mechanism for understanding, evaluating, and predicting the development, management, and economics of large-scale systems and processes. Dashboards enable measurement and interactive graphical displays of complex information and support flexible analytic capabilities for user customizability and extensibility. Dashboards commonly include system requirements and design metrics because they provide leading indicators for project size, growth, and volatility. This article focuses on dashboards that have been used on actual large-scale software projects as well as example empirical relationships revealed by the dashboards. The empirical results focus on leading indicators for requirements and designs of large-scale software systems based on insights from two sets of software projects containing 14 systems and 23 systems.
A framework for multiple snakes

A framework for segmenting multiple objects in an image based on deformable contours is proposed. In this framework, multiple snakes are applied with a new kind of energy called the "group energy." The group energy is introduced to handle sharing of properties across multiple objects in the image. Our framework allows contours of "strong objects" to guide contours of "weak objects" by utilizing deformable templates. We also automatically generate the necessary weighting parameters for energy minimization. A new approach for multiple snake optimization which is based on dynamic programming is also proposed. We applied our framework to the problem of image analysis of gene expression in microarrays. Comprehensive experiments were performed and comparisons were made between the individual energy based method and the proposed group energy based method. Our results are highly encouraging and have many potential applications in a variety of tracking scenarios.
Leveraging user-session data to support Web application testing

Web applications are vital components of the global information infrastructure, and it is important to ensure their dependability. Many techniques and tools for validating Web applications have been created, but few of these have addressed the need to test Web application functionality and none have attempted to leverage data gathered in the operation of Web applications to assist with testing. In this paper, we present several techniques for using user session data gathered as users operate Web applications to help test those applications from a functional standpoint. We report results of an experiment comparing these new techniques to existing white-box techniques for creating test cases for Web applications, assessing both the adequacy of the generated test cases and their ability to detect faults on a point-of-sale Web application. Our results show that user session data can be used to produce test suites more effective overall than those produced by the white-box techniques considered; however, the faults detected by the two classes of techniques differ, suggesting that the techniques are complementary.
Induction of HO-1 and CO Synthesis Radiosensitizes Tumor Epithelial Cells With CO Acting as a NO Mimetic

alterations in NFE2L2 and KEAP1 confer poorer overall survival (P Z 0.02). Conclusions: The integrative, high-throughput methods shown here for large-scale profiling of radiation survival and genomic features of solidtumor derived cell lines should facilitate tumor radiogenomics and the discovery of radiation sensitizers and protective agents. The potential clinical translation of these findings includes the development of NFE2L2 molecular diagnostics and the prospective validation of the first radiotherapeutic resistance biomarker in lung NSCLC. Author Disclosure:M. Abazeed: None. C. Xu: None. D. Adams: None. P. Tamayo: None. J. Loeffler: None. J. Suh: None. M. Meyerson: G. Consultant; MM is a consultant to Foundation Medicine. R. Ownership Other; MM is an equity holder in Foundation Medicine. K. Wong: None. P. Hammerman: G. Consultant; P.S.H. reports consulting fees from ARIAD.
Alcator C-MOD ICRF antenna design and analysis

Design features of the ICRF (ion cyclotron range of frequencies) fast-wave antenna to be used on the Alcator C-MOD tokamak are described. Initially, a movable, single-current-strap antenna will be used. A detailed study of the antenna performance was carried out using an antenna-plasma coupling code. Mechanical strength against disruption forces was a major consideration in the antenna design. Analyses show that the present design is mechanically and thermally satisfactory. An optimized configuration being planned for future experiments and having two double-current-strap antennas is also described. >
Shaving residential air-conditioner electricity peaks by intelligent use of the building thermal mass

Abstract The residential air-conditioning load is a significant component of electric utility peak demand, which typically occurs on very hot summer afternoons. Efforts by utilities to shave or shift air-conditioning demand to off-peak periods in the day have been spurred by low-cost electronics and include such strategies as direct-load control and price-induced local control by homeowners. We propose alternative practical strategies of peak shaving that use the opportunities offered by modern electronics as well as a more intelligent use of the thermal mass storage inherent in the structure and furnishings of the house. Using the framework of a simplified electrical analogue, we predict the thermal performance of the residence when the air-conditioner is switched off and illustrate the validity of such simplified estimates with monitored data from an actual residence. Finally, we discuss practical aspects related to the implementation of these strategies, particularly as to what is needed in terms of electronic sophistication of the thermostat.
Guided wave propagation in carbon composite laminate using piezoelectric wafer active sensors

Attenuation of Lamb waves, both fundamental symmetric and anti-symmetric modes, propagating through carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) was modeled using the multi-physics finite element methods (MP-FEM) and compared with experimental results. Composite plates typical of aerospace applications were used and provide actuation using integrated piezoelectric wafer active sensors (PWAS) transducer. The MP-FEM implementation was used to combine electro active sensing materials and structural composite materials. Simulation results obtained with appropriate level of Rayleigh damping are correlated with experimental measurements. Relation between viscous damping and Rayleigh damping were presented and a discussion about wave attenuation due to material damping and geometry spreading have been led. The Rayleigh damping model was used to compute the wave damping coefficient for several frequency and for S0 and A0 mode. The challenge has been examined and discussed when the guided Lamb wave propagation is multimodal.
Exact moments of the symmetric cubic assignment statistic

Hubert (1987Assignment Methods in Combinatorial Data Analysis) presented a class of permutation, or random assignment, techniques for assessing correspondence between general k-dimensional proximity measures on a set of “objects.” A major problem in higher-order assignment models is the prohibitive level of computation that is required. We present the first three exact moments of a test statistic for the symmetric cubic assignment model. Efficient computational formulas for the first three moments have been derived, thereby permitting approximation of the permutation distribution using well-known methods.
Extracting unrecognized gene relationships from the biomedical literature via matrix factorizations using a priori knowledge of gene relationships

The construction of literature-based networks of gene-gene interactions is one of the most important applications of text mining in bioinformatics. Extracting potential gene relationships from the biomedical literature may be helpful in building biological hypotheses that can be explored further experimentally. In this paper, we explore the utility of singular value decomposition (SVD) and non-negative matrix factorization (NMF) to extract unrecognized gene relationships from the biomedical literature by taking advantage of known gene relationships. We introduce a way to incorporate a priori knowledge of gene relationships into LSI/SVD and NMF. In addition, we propose a gene retrieval method based on NMF (GR/NMF), which shows comparable performance with latent semantic indexing based on SVD.
Changing the Past, Present, and Future: Potential Applications of Positive Psychology in School-Based Psychotherapy with Children and Youth.

Abstract There has recently been a growing movement within psychology toward placing a greater emphasis on the positive aspects of human nature. This movement, known as positive psychology, focuses on the scientific study of human strengths and virtues as well as the variables that promote positive traits, emotions, and institutions. The purpose of this article is to discuss selected topics of research in positive psychology and the potential psychotherapeutic application of this research for children and youth, particularly in school settings. Interventions are presented for altering and enhancing children's and adolescents' perspectives regarding their past, their experience of the present, and their hopes for the future.
The Role of Magnetic Resonance Image Guided Prostate Biopsy in Stratifying Men for Risk of Extracapsular Extension at Radical Prostatectomy.

Purpose: Magnetic resonance imaging detects extracapsular extension by prostate cancer with excellent specificity but low sensitivity. This limits surgical planning, which could be modified to account for focal extracapsular extension with image directed guidance for wider excision. In this study we evaluate the performance of multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging in extracapsular extension detection and determine which preoperative variables predict extracapsular extension on final pathology when multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging predicts organ confined disease.Materials and Methods: From May 2007 to March 2014, 169 patients underwent pre-biopsy multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging, magnetic resonance imaging/transrectal ultrasound fusion guided biopsy, extended sextant 12-core biopsy and radical prostatectomy at our institution. A subset of 116 men had multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging negative for extracapsular extension and were included in the final analysis.Results: The ...
Simpson's paradox in the integrated discrimination improvement

The integrated discrimination improvement (IDI) is commonly used to compare two risk prediction models; it summarizes the extent a new model increases risk in events and decreases risk in non-events. The IDI averages risks across events and non-events and is therefore susceptible to Simpson's paradox. In some settings, adding a predictive covariate to a well calibrated model results in an overall negative (positive) IDI. However, if stratified by that same covariate, the strata-specific IDIs are positive (negative). Meanwhile, the calibration (observed to expected ratio and Hosmer-Lemeshow Goodness of Fit Test), area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, and Brier score improve overall and by stratum. We ran extensive simulations to investigate the impact of an imbalanced covariate upon metrics (IDI, area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, Brier score, and R2), provide an analytic explanation for the paradox in the IDI, and use an investigative metric, a Weighted IDI, to better understand the paradox. In simulations, all instances of the paradox occurred under stratum-specific mis-calibration, yet there were mis-calibrated settings in which the paradox did not occur. The paradox is illustrated on Cancer Genomics Network data by calculating predictions based on two versions of BRCAPRO, a Mendelian risk prediction model for breast and ovarian cancer. In both simulations and the Cancer Genomics Network data, overall model calibration did not guarantee stratum-level calibration. We conclude that the IDI should only assess model performance among a clinically relevant subset when stratum-level calibration is strictly met and recommend calculating additional metrics to confirm the direction and conclusions of the IDI. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.