cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Model Predictive Saturation Controller-Based Direct Torque Control of Permanent-Magnet Synchronous Machines

The conventional direct torque control (DTC) for permanent-magnet synchronous machines (PMSMs) uses hysteresis comparators to determine a single voltage vector per control period based on the torque and stator flux tracking errors. The saturation controller-based DTC (SDTC) is a duty cycle DTC strategy that uses nonlinear adaptive midpoint saturation controllers to determine the duration of two active voltage vectors and a zero voltage vector for each control period. A new voltage vector table and the outputs of the saturation controllers determine the duty cycle for each phase. This paper proposes a novel model predictive SDTC (MPSDTC) strategy for PMSMs with low sampling frequency, fast transient response, and low steady-state torque and flux ripples. The MPSDTC uses a computational model of the SDTC to predict the torque, stator flux linkage, current, etc. of the PMSM in the immediate next control period and possibly future control periods. The predicted values are then used to form a cost function that is minimized to find the optimized saturation controller outputs. The MPSDTC has better transient and steady state torque characteristic than the traditional field-orientated control (FOC) or the SDTC. 1
Toughness and Flaw Responses in Nontransforming Ceramics: Implications for NDE

Recent developments in the characterization of the strength of ceramics have made it necessary to re-examine several “tradition”, long-standing definitions and assumptions that form the modern-day fracture mechanics basis of NDE. Ceramics are very brittle materials. They are highly susceptible to failure from small scale (1–100 μm) “flaws”. These flaws may be in the form of machining damage, grain boundary fissures, processing defects (pores or inclusions), etc. Theoretically, flaws have been represented as scaled-down versions of large cracks, so that the macroscopic “laws” of fracture might be assumed to apply at the microsale. This philosophy is embodied in the Griffith strength formalism, σm = Τo/Yc1/2 where c is the flaw size, To is the toughness (KIC in metallurgical terminology) and Y is a geometrical constant. Implicit in Eq. 1 are two major conclusions which dictate the entire approach to NDE in ceramics: (i) Failure occurs spontaneously at the critical stress (σm); (ii) Toughness (To) is single-valued.
Systemic Therapy for Estrogen Receptor-Positive, HER2-Negative Breast Cancer.

Estrogen Receptor–Positive Breast Cancer ER-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer, which accounts for about 70% of all breast cancers, is heterogeneous. Antiestrogen therapy is the cornerstone of s...
Dependence of an aquatic insect population on contemporaneous primary production

O_LICharacterizing the dynamics of energy flow through ecosystems requires quantifying the degree to which primary and secondary production are coupled. This coupling is expected to be tight in ecosystems with high internal production relative to external carbon and energy inputs. C_LIO_LIWe experimentally quantified the dependence of aquatic insect emergence on fresh primary production, specifically for the midge population in Lake Myvatn, Iceland. Using field mesocosms, we manipulated algal primary production by reducing light availability via shading. We then used dissolved oxygen incubations to estimate fluxes of carbon through photosynthesis (i.e., gross primary production or "GPP") over the course of the experiment. C_LIO_LIWe found that elevated GPP was associated with higher emergence rates of adults, as judged both by comparison of emergence across the experimental shading treatments and estimates of in situ GPP within the mesocosms. Furthermore, larger adults emerged earlier than smaller ones, suggesting that asymmetries in resource availability among individuals affected the timing of emergence. Nonetheless, midge emergence was substantial under light-limiting conditions, indicating that while midges benefit from primary production contemporaneous with larval development, they are also capable of completing their life cycles on carbon already existing in the organic matter pool. C_LIO_LIOur results show that even in systems with limited allochthonous inputs, contemporaneous primary production may be not necessary for high secondary production and insect emergence. Instead, consumers can develop from consumption of biomass derived from past autochthonous primary production. This suggests that primary production and consumer dynamics can be partially decoupled in time in systems that depend on internal production. C_LI
From the ‘four faculties’ to YKL: a brief history of library classification in the Nordic countries, Part 1: Denmark, Norway, and Iceland

In this paper and a second part (to appear in the next issue of Library & Information History), an historical account is provided of the origins and development, since the 11th century, of Nordic s...
Distributed and individualized computation offloading optimization in a fog computing environment

Abstract In a newly emerged fog computing environment, various user equipments (UE) enhance their computing power and extend their battery lifetime by computation offloading to mobile edge cloud (MEC) servers. Such an environment is distributed and competitive in nature. In this paper, we take a game theoretical approach to computation offloading optimization in a fog computing environment. Such an approach captures and characterizes the nature of a competitive environment. The main contributions of the paper can be summarized as follows. First, we formulate a non-cooperative game with both UEs and MECs as players. Each UE attempts to minimize the execution time of its tasks with an energy constraint. Each MEC attempts to minimize the product of its power consumption for computation and execution time for allocated tasks. Second, we develop a heuristic algorithm for a UE to determine its “heuristically” best response to the current situation, an algorithm for an MEC to determine its best response to the current situation, and an iterative algorithm to find the Nash equilibrium. Third, we prove that our iterative algorithm converges to a Nash equilibrium. We demonstrate numerical examples of our non-cooperative games with and without MECs' participation. We observe that our iterative algorithm always quickly converges to a Nash equilibrium. The uniqueness of our non-cooperative games is that the strategy set of a player can be discrete and the payoff function of a player can be obtained by a heuristic algorithm for combinatorial optimization. To the best of the author's knowledge, there has been no such investigation of non-cooperative games based on combinatorial optimization for computation offloading optimization in a fog computing environment.
Mechanisms of Probiotic Regulation of Host Homeostasis

Probiotics regulate host homeostasis by Maintaining the intestinal microenvironment through producing antibacterial substances and competing with pathogens for binding. Promoting intestinal epithelial cell survival, barrier function, and cytoprotective responses. Defining the balance between necessary and excessive immune defense functions to prevent inflammation. Activating signaling pathways in intestinal epithelial and immune cells.
Immunosuppression in liver transplantation.

Early mythology depicts two saints in a life-anddeath struggle to save a limb from a foregone fate. Saints Cosmos and Damien replaced a cancerous leg with a limb from a deceased Moor. This illustration was mere fantasy until the latter part of the previous century with the seminal surgeries performed by Dr. Joseph Murray on identical twins and, later, Dr. Starzl’s pioneering orthotopic liver transplant (OLT). Immunosuppression itself has come from the dark ages to where it stands today: a careful balancing act between toxicity and rejection. 1-3 This article is designed as an overview of current immunosuppression in OLT and will not delve into areas such as basic science or pipeline preview. The first attempts at whole liver grafting were carried out in 1955 with auxiliary grafts. This involved insertion of an extra liver at an ectopic location. This approach left the diseased liver intact. Early results, however, were disappointing. This early experience in the animal model and later attempts in humans led to the development of the OLT model. This was first attempted in 1963 in humans and today is the primary model for liver transplantation. 4 Early immunosuppression was suboptimal at best. Corticosteroids and azathioprine were used in combination by Starzl et al. in his first 5 transplants. The majority of the Colorado series from 1963 to 1976 received corticosteroids, azathioprine, and antilymphocyte globulin. A total of 170 patients were transplanted, and approximately 50% were children. Patients were divided into 3 time-based series. Series 1 (1963-1976, 111 patients) had a 1-year survival rate of 28.8%, Series 2 (1976-1978, 30 patients) had a 1-year survival rate of 50%, and the Series 3 (1978-1979, 29 patients) had a 1-year survival rate of 34.5%. Variations on these approaches included thoracic duct drainage or cyclophosphamide, though neither produced significant advantage. The Cambridge University group reported on a series from 1968 to 1980 with a total of 93 patients, with a 1-year survival rate of 23.7%. The lower survival rate may have been due to the lower rate of pediatric patients transplanted by the Cambridge group. 5,6 This time frame has been referred to as the precyclosporine (CyA) era (Fig. 1).
Transition from inflation to price stability : A comment on Garber

Abstract This paper is stimulating. It raises, both directly and indirectly, interesting questions. My discussion is in two parts. The first part reviews and elaborates on some key elements of Garber's view of the effects of the German hyperinflation and its termination. (I do not know enough about the historical sources to argue with Garber about the facts. I note, however, that, although Garber presents and discusses some data, his account of what happened relies to a large extent on secondary sources-especially studies by Bresciani-Turroni, Graham, and Angell.) The second part discusses the possible relevance of points that Garber makes about this German experience for the current situation in the United States.
The Trials of Genetically Modified Food BT EGGPLANT AND AYURVEDIC MEDICINE IN INDIA

Although planting of genetically modified (GM) crops has topped 148 million ha. worldwide, direct consumption of GM foods remains extremely rare. The obstacles to GM foods are highly varied and they can provide windows into important cultural dynamics. India's heated controversy over its would-be first GM food—Bt brinjal (eggplant)—is driven not only by common concerns over testing and corporate control of food, but by its clash with the Ayurvedic medical establishment. GM brinjal may outcross with wild relatives commonly used in Ayurvedic medicine, and claims that outcrossing would not affect medical efficacy miss the point. Ayurveda emphasizes polyherbal treatments and has developed an epistemology oriented towards complex combinations of compounds. As such it does not recognize the authority of specific studies of transgene effects. The conflict is not with genetic modification per se, but with the reductionism that is central to the biotechnology approvals process. This opposition has played a significant role in
Putting integrated information in context: superimposing conceptual models with SPARCE

A person working with diverse information sources—with possibly different formats and information models—may recognize and wish to express conceptual structures that are not explicitly present in those sources. Rather than replicate the portions of interest and recast them into a single, combined data source, we leave base information where it is and superimpose a conceptual model that is appropriate to the task at hand. This superimposed model can be distinct from the model(s) employed by the sources in the base layer.An application that superimposes a new conceptual model over diverse sources, with varying capabilities, needs to accommodate the various types of information and differing access protocols for the base information sources. The Superimposed Pluggable Architecture for Contexts and Excerpts (SPARCE) defines a collection of architectural abstractions, placed between superimposed and base applications, to demarcate and revisit information elements inside base sources and provide access to content and context for elements inside these sources. SPARCE accommodates new base information types without altering existing superimposed applications. In this paper, we briefly introduce several superimposed applications that we have built, and describe the conceptual model each superimposes. We then focus on the use of context in superimposed applications. We describe how SPARCE supports context and excerpts. We demonstrate how SPARCE facilitates building superimposed applications by describing its use in building our two, quite diverse applications.
EFFICIENT ACOUSTIC FEATURE EXTRACTION FOR MUSIC INFORMATION RETRIEVAL USING PROGRAMMABLE GATE ARRAYS

Many of the recent advances in music information retrieval from audio signals have been data-driven, i.e., resulting from the analysis of very large data sets. Widespread performance evaluations on common data sets, such as the annual MIREX events, have also been instrumental in advancing the field. These endeavors incur a large computational cost, and could potentially benefit greatly from more rapid calculation of acoustic features. Traditional, clusterbased solutions for large-scale feature extraction are expensive and space- and power-inefficient. Using the massively parallel architecture of the field programmable gate array (FPGA), it is possible to design an application specific chip rivaling the speed of a cluster for large-scale acoustic feature computation at lower cost. Recent advances in development tools, such as the Xilinx Blockset in Simulink, allow rapid prototyping, simulation, and implementation on actual hardware. Such devices also show potential for the implementation of MIR systems on embedded devices such as cell phones and PDAs where hardware acceleration would be an absolute necessity. We present a prototype library for acoustic feature calculation for implementation on Xilinx FPGA hardware. Furthermore, using a genre classification task we compare the performance of simulated hardware features to those computed using standard methods, demonstrating a nearly negligible drop in classification performance with the potential for large reductions in computation time.
Symbolic Computing with Beowulf-Class PC Clusters

Beowulf-class systems are an extremely inexpensive way of aggregating substantial quantities of a given resource to facilitate the execution of different kinds of potentially large workloads. Beowulf-class systems are clusters of mass-market COTS PC computers (e.g. Intel Pentium III) and network hardware (e.g. Fast Ethernet, Myrinet) employing available Unix-like open source systems software (e.g. Linux) to deliver superior price-performance and scalability for a wide range of applications. Initially, Beowulfs were assembled to support compute intensive applications at low cost by integrating a large number of microprocessors primarily for science and engineering problems. But over the last few years, this class of clusters has expanded in scale, application domain, and means of use to embrace a much broader range of user problem. Beowulfs have become equally important as a means of integrating large numbers of disk drives to realize large mass storage support systems for both scientific and commercial applications including data bases and transaction processing and are becoming a major workhorse for web servers and search engines. Yet, Beowulf-class systems are able to assemble together large ensembles of yet another type of resource: memory. This possibility may enable domains of computation so far largely unaddressed by the distributed cluster community.
A thousand little deaths.

Doctor, just one more thing." I marvel every time I hear this, nearly always as I reach for the door. It is as though all patients receive copies of the same instructions, perhaps posted somewhere in the waiting room: 1. Wait until your appointment has run over time. 2. Watch until your doctor stands to leave. 3. Ask a question of grave importance that cannot possibly be answered quickly. I released the doorknob. "Yes, sir?" "I was wondering if you had any advice for me on preparing to die. You see, I got a copy of the pathology report and even though my oncologist didn't tell me the prognosis was bad, I did a little of my own research. I learned that 'high grade' and 'poorly differentiated' don't bode well for me. My wife is much younger than I am, and I guess I'm just kind of thinking ahead, you know, for her sake." Advice on preparing to die, in one minute or less. I took a deep breath, and as I did so, a myriad of questions bubbled to the surface. What did he mean, "preparing to die?" Was he talking about managing his estate? Or did he want the name of a good funeral director, someone who could help him plan his ceremony and order his casket? Was he religious? Did he want advice on spiritual preparation for death, a prescription for redemption? Or was he worried about physical suffering and the burden he would be to his wife? Was he interested in hospice or doctor-assisted suicide? Was this some sort of anticipatory grief? Did he understand what he was asking? In his classic work The Hour of Our Death, French historian Philippe Aries traces the history of Western attitudes toward death over the past millennium, recounting the evolution in rites, rituals, and cultural values that transformed what he calls a "tame death" into an untame, "invisible death." He writes that whether tame or not, death "always remains a misfortune, a mal-heur!" He continues: It is remarkable that in the old Romance languages physical pain, psychological suffering, grief, crime, punishment, and the reverses of fortune were all expressed by the same word, derived from malum, either alone or in combination with other words: in French, malheur, maladie, malchance, le malin (misfortune, illness, mishap, the devil). It was not until later that an attempt was made to distinguish the various meanings. In the beginning there was only one evil that had various aspects: suffering, sin, and death. …
Carbohydrate metabolism in the steroid shore crab, Pachygrapsus crassipes—II. Glycolytic rates of muscle, gill and hepatopancreas

Abstract 1. 1. Lactate concentration, lactate production from glucose in a fortified medium and the soluble protein content of cheliped and thoracic muscles, gill and hepatopancreas of Pachygrapsus crassipes were measured. 2. 2. The glycolytic rates of cheliped and thoracic muscles and gill were about 14, 10 and 7 μmoles of lactate per hr per g tissue respectively. Little glycolytic activity was detected in the hepatopancreas. 3. 3. The glycolytic rates were highest in September and lowest in December. 4. 4. There were no detectable differences in the rates of lactate formation in crabs from different stages of the molt cycle.
Square wave catalytic stripping voltammetry of molybdenum complexed with dihydroxynaphthalene

Abstract A procedure is described for the determination of molybdenum using square wave catalytic stripping voltammetry in the presence of 2,3-dihydroxynaphthalene (DHN) and bromate. Linear scan voltammetry revealed that Mo(VI) forms a 1:2 complex with DHN and undergoes a one-electron reduction at the hanging mercury drop electrode. This reduction is reversible and especially suitable for square wave voltage modulation. A large enhancement of the peak current (500 ×) is observed upon the addition of bromate. The optimum conditions were 1 × 10 −3 M DHN, 3 × 10 −2 M bromate, pH 4.7, and an adsorption potential of −0.05 V. For an adsorption time of 1 min, the relative standard deviation for the measurement of 5 × 10 −12 M Mo(VI) was ±4% ( n = 7), and the detection limit was determined as 6 × 10 −12 M. The peak current was linear with the concentration of Mo(VI) from 1 × 10 −11 to 1 × 10 −9 M. The linear range could be extended with shorter adsorption times or a non-stirring adsorption mode.
Order-disorder transition and alignment dynamics of a block copolymer under high magnetic fields by in situ x-ray scattering.

We examine the influence of magnetic fields on the order-disorder transition (ODT) in a liquid crystalline block copolymer. This is motivated by a desire to understand the dynamics of microstructure alignment during field annealing as potentially dictated by selective destabilization of nonaligned material. Temperature resolved scattering across the ODT and time-resolved measurements during isothermal field annealing at sub-ODT temperatures were performed in situ. Strongly textured mesophases resulted in each case but no measurable field-induced shift in ${T}_{\mathrm{ODT}}$ was observed. This suggests that selective melting does not play a discernable role in the system's field response. Our data indicate instead that alignment occurs by slow grain rotation within the mesophase. We identify an optimum subcooling that maximizes alignment during isothermal field annealing. This is corroborated by a simple model incorporating the competing effects of an exponentially decreasing mobility and divergent, increasing magnetic anisotropy on cooling below ${T}_{\mathrm{ODT}}$. The absence of measurable field effects on ${T}_{\mathrm{ODT}}$ is consistent with estimates based on the relative magnitudes of the field interaction energy and the enthalpy associated with the ODT.
Relationship between Protein Structure and Methionine Oxidation in Recombinant Human α1-Antitrypsin

α1-Antitrypsin is a metastable and conformationally flexible protein that belongs to the serpin family of protease inhibitors. Although it is known that methionine oxidation in the protein's active site results in a loss of biological activity, there is little specific knowledge regarding the reactivity of each of the protein's methionine residues. In this study, we have used peptide mapping to study the oxidation kinetics of each of α1-antitrypsin's methionines in α1-AT(C232S) as well as M351L and M358V mutants. These kinetic studies establish that Met1, Met226, Met242, Met351, and Met358 are reactive with hydrogen peroxide at neutral pH and that each reactive methionine is oxidized in a bimolecular, rather than coupled, mechanism. Analysis of Met226, Met351, and Met358 oxidation provides insights regarding the structure of α1-antitrypsin's active site that allow us to relate conformation to experimentally observed reactivity. The relationship between solution pH and methionine oxidation was also examine...
Affordable web accessibility: a case for cheaper ARIA

When a commercial entity designs a product, one of the major considerations is the cost of production. No matter how amazing a product idea is, how many features the product has, or how noble the cause is, most products will fail if they are too expensive for the target market or too expensive to compete in the market. Any website is, of course, a product; and web accessibility is often perceived as an added feature that costs extra money to develop. In this paper, we make an argument that the greatest weakness of WAI-ARIA, an accessibility specification for web developers, is the cost of its implementation. We argue that this cost, rather than specific technical constraints, may be the main culprit of the poor accessibility of many websites, except for the most popular ones, and of the slow progress in WAI-ARIA support in screen readers. We contend that the accessibility of the Web could be greatly improved if an affordable version of WAI-ARIA were to emerge. This can be achieved by: (a) extending the specification to increase its utility for a wider range of potential users, which will allow for economies of scale, and (b) refining the specification to make it both more cost effective for web development and more open to innovation in user-agent development. In this paper, we discuss accessible web development in the context of cost and identify potential areas of improvement.
Determinants of English Proficiency among Mexican Migrants to the United States

We replicate prior research into the determinants of English language proficiency among immigrants using a dataset that controls for potential biases stemming from selective emigration omitted variables and the mismeasurement of key constructs. In general we reproduce the results of earlier work leading us to conclude that despite inherent methodological problems research based on cross-sectional censuses and surveys yields fundamentally accurate conclusions. In particular we find unambiguous evidence that English proficiency rises with exposure to U.S. society and we reaffirm earlier work showing a clear pattern of language assimilation among Mexican migrants to the United States. (EXCERPT)
Analysis of four-way two-dimensional liquid chromatography-diode array data: application to metabolomics.

Two-dimensional liquid chromatography (2D-LC) is rapidly gaining popularity for the analysis of very complex mixtures, including proteomic and metabolomic samples. It provides an effective strategy for separating such samples, because the resolving power of 2D-LC is far superior to that of traditional single-dimension separations. The present work focuses on the development of data analysis methods for the extremely large data sets, on the order of 10 million data points, generated by 2D-LC with diode-array detection (DAD). Specifically, we have applied and adapted chemometric methods to the analysis of maize seedling digests, focusing on compounds related to the biosynthetic pathways of indole-3-acetic acid, the primary growth regulator in plants. The chemometric techniques of window target testing factor analysis (WTTFA), along with parallel factor analysis - alternating least squares (PARAFAC-ALS) were used to analyze 2D-LC-DAD chromatograms of a sample composed of 26 indolic standards, 2 extracts of m...
GDNF-Transfected Macrophages Produce Potent Neuroprotective Effects in Parkinson's Disease Mouse Model

The pathobiology of Parkinson's disease (PD) is associated with the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc) projecting to the striatum. Currently, there are no treatments that can halt or reverse the course of PD; only palliative therapies, such as replacement strategies for missing neurotransmitters, exist. Thus, the successful brain delivery of neurotrophic factors that promote neuronal survival and reverse the disease progression is crucial. We demonstrated earlier systemically administered autologous macrophages can deliver nanoformulated antioxidant, catalase, to the SNpc providing potent anti-inflammatory effects in PD mouse models. Here we evaluated genetically-modified macrophages for active targeted brain delivery of glial cell-line derived neurotropic factor (GDNF). To capitalize on the beneficial properties afforded by alternatively activated macrophages, transfected with GDNF-encoded pDNA cells were further differentiated toward regenerative M2 phenotype. A systemic administration of GDNF-expressing macrophages significantly ameliorated neurodegeneration and neuroinflammation in PD mice. Behavioral studies confirmed neuroprotective effects of the macrophage-based drug delivery system. One of the suggested mechanisms of therapeutic effects is the release of exosomes containing the expressed neurotropic factor followed by the efficient GDNF transfer to target neurons. Such formulations can serve as a new technology based on cell-mediated active delivery of therapeutic proteins that attenuate and reverse progression of PD, and ultimately provide hope for those patients who are already significantly disabled by the disease.
Design and verification of a low-cost reconfigurable 16-QAM system

Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) has been widely used in automotive, broadcast, high performance computing, video and image processing. In this paper, a reconfigurable 16-QAM system is designed using hardware description language (HDL). An efficient design with less logic resource usage and better design compatibility has been implemented on an FPGA. Additionally, a cross-tool design flow is discussed for project verification. This type of study could have a broader impact in communication research and education.
The Meaning of Student Inquiry Questions: A Teacher's Beliefs and Responses.

This research explores an American high school chemistry teacher's perspective on the meaning of student questions that originate from curiosity and engagement with subject matter. Ethnographic analysis of a teacher's reflective processes and decision-making approach suggests that questions hold contradictory meanings as powerful, conflicting pressures come to play in the everyday patterns of classroom discourse. Although thoughtful intellectual questions are valued as indicators of student attitudes and understandings, they nonetheless create an interruption to the normal flow of things. To the teacher, such interruptions pose threats to his control of classroom events and his ability to cover the content of his course. Although science educators might enthusiastically endorse the idea that classrooms should be characterized by a spirit of inquiry in which student questions are encouraged and respected, findings suggest that it can be difficult for this to happen in actual schools where particular teache...
Urologic Disorders of the Geriatric Dog

Disorders of the urinary system are common in older dogs. Common disorders include chronic renal failure, urinary incontinence, bladder tumors, and prostate problems. Some conditions that may cause urinary incontinence and prostate disease may be curable if they are accurately diagnosed and treated appropriately. Other conditions such as chronic renal failure and bladder tumors may not be curable, but proper therapy may extend good quality life of the patient.
“Money and little red books”;: Romanticism, tourism, and the rise of the guidebook

(1996). “Money and little red books”;: Romanticism, tourism, and the rise of the guidebook. Lit: Literature Interpretation Theory: Vol. 7, No. 2-3, pp. 213-226.
Six sigma methodology can be used to improve adherence for antibiotic prophylaxis in patients undergoing noncardiac surgery.

BACKGROUND: Six Sigma methodology is a data management process that can be used to achieve a goal of near perfection in process performance. An audit of 615 surgeries over 2 mo revealed only 38% of noncardiac patients admitted on the day of surgery at our institution received perioperative antimicrobial prophylaxis within the target interval of < or =60 min before incision. METHODS: Six Sigma methodology was used to improve our process of timing of antimicrobial prophylaxis administration. A multidisciplinary team was assembled which identified seven process inputs by which patients receive antimicrobial prophylaxis. Interventions for improvement included reinforcement of use of preoperative antibiotic order forms, eliminating administration of antibiotics in the preoperative admission area, and sending appropriate antibiotics and IV tubing with the patient to the operating room. We concurrently developed a control plan to sustain this improvement using a recently deployed electronic anesthesia record keeping system using real-time measurement and reporting capabilities of antimicrobial prophylaxis administration. After defining the new process and undertaking a system-wide educational effort, implementation was begun with data collection and analysis occurring over the next 7 mo. RESULTS: For the 8-mo postintervention interval, there was a significant improvement with 86% of 1716 surgical patients receiving their antibiotic prophylaxis within the specified time frame (P < 0.01). The time interval for antibiotic administration before surgical incision also decreased from a preintervention mean of 88 (CI 56-119 min) to 38 min (CI 25-51 min) (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: We conclude that Six Sigma methods were used to successfully improve our process for timing of perioperative antibiotic prophylaxis before surgical incision. An electronic anesthesia record keeping system is a useful tool to monitor this process improvement.
Excision of membrane patches reduces the mean open time of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors

Excision of membrane patches from clonal BC3H1 cells to the inside-out configuration reduces the mean open time and burst duration of skeletal muscle nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. The channel conductance is not altered. Our results indicate that the rates for several steps in receptor activation are affected. The altered receptors apparently form a homogeneous population. Patterns of activity similar to that seen after excision are seen infrequently in recordings from cell-attached patches, suggesting that receptors with this type of altered function are present in intact membranes. The extent and rate of the reduction in mean open time after excision are similar at acetylcholine concentration over a 1000-fold range, indicating that the alteration does not depend on the state of ligation of the receptor. The extent and rate also are similar at room temperature and at 11 degrees C. The changes seen indicate that careful comparisons to intact preparations are necessary when studying the gating of channels in excised patches or following reconstitution into artificial membranes.
Reactions and Reciprocity Tariffs and Trade Liberalization from 1815 to 1914

If one country lowers its tariffs, other countries might follow suit by liberalizing or defend their market by raising tariffs or do nothing at all. The question of a state's reaction to the tariff policy of another has been undertheorized, although it plays an important, implicit role in debates between theories. To understand these reactions, the author proposes a model of trade policy and tariff reciprocity that encompasses variables from both the domestic and international levels of analysis in a way that is compatible with several different theories. Two major testable propositions follow from the analysis. First, two countries' tariffs will move in opposite directions without trade agreements. Second, two countries' tariffs will move in the same direction when they have signed a trade agreement. These hypotheses find substantial support in both quantitative and qualitative tests against the period from 1815 to 1914, when there was substantial variation in countries' willingness to sign reciprocal ta...
Stochastic Analysis of the Wheel-Rail Contact Friction Using the Polynomial Chaos Theory

The coefficient of friction (CoF) is a very important factor for designing, operating, and maintaining the wheel-rail system. In the real world, accurate estimation of the CoF at the wheel-rail interface is difficult due to the effects of various uncertain parameters, e.g., wheel and rail materials, rail roughness, contact patch size, and so on. In this study, a stochastic analysis using polynomial chaos (poly-chaos) theory is performed with the newly developed 3D dry CoF model at the wheel-rail contact. The wheel-rail system is modeled as a mass-spring-damper system. Stochastic analyses with one uncertainty, combinations of two uncertainties, and a combination of three uncertainties are performed. The probability density function (PDF) results for stick CoF, slip CoF, and combined (total) CoF are presented. The stochastic analysis results show that the total CoF PDF before 1 s is dominantly affected by the stick phenomenon, whereas the slip dominantly influences the total CoF PDF after 1 s. The CoF PDFs obtained from simulations with combinations of two and three uncertain parameters have wider PDF ranges than those obtained for only one uncertain parameter. The current work demonstrates that the CoF is strongly affected by the stochastic variation of dynamic parameters. Thus, the PDF distribution of the CoF could play a very important role in the design of the wheel-rail system.
Implementation of an evidence-based parenting programme with a Latina population: feasibility and preliminary outcomes

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the implementation and adaptation of group Triple P, an evidence-based parenting intervention developed in Australia, for a Latina population living in the USA. Design/methodology/approach – Mothers with pre-school age children participated in the programme, which was offered by a community mental health agency. The final study sample consisted of 174 Latina mothers. Findings – Participation in group Triple P was associated with clinically significant improvements in maternal mental health, parenting styles, and child behaviour problems. Additionally, mothers reported high levels of satisfaction with the programme. Practical implications – Triple P is a promising intervention for Latina caregivers who are concerned about the behaviour of their young children. It can be implemented successfully into community-based mental health care systems. Originality/value – This is the first study to examine the applicability of Triple P to Latina caregivers.
Validity and power investigation of a test for serial correlation in univariate repeated measures analysis

A common design in biostatistics and psychometrics is the repeated measures design. A popular example is a clinical trial with one grouping factor, e.g. treatment or drug, and one repeated measures factor, e.g. time or visit. For selected ‘real world’ parameter sets, we performed a validity and power study on a test for serial correlation in repeated measures analysis and also conducted a similar study of a test for sphericity. Simulation showed that the serial correlation test identified the serial correlation structure, whereas the sphericity test, for some parameter sets, failed to detect this non-spherical pattern as often as 85 per cent of the time.
Determinants of new industrial product performance: a strategic re-examination of the empirical literature

Research on the determinants of industrial innovation performance using a three-dimensional framework is examined. Those dimensions are: generality over innovations, decision focus, and managerial controllability. The major determinants identified are: strategic and organizational factors, including general management's support, business-project fit, and RD RD and market and environmental factors, including degree of competition and market growth. An empirical study of 112 industrial products confirms that dynamic interaction exists between these determinants and the launch time of the product. >
Counseling Foreign Law Students

This article examines issues that foreign students studying law in the United States may encounter, issues that are proposed within the context of existing information on foreign students, law students, and the law school experience. Implications for counseling are discussed.
Kaolin-induced ventriculomegaly at weaning produces long-term learning, memory, and motor deficits in rats

Ventriculomegaly occurs when there is imbalance between creation and absorption of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF); even when treated, long-term behavioral changes occur. Kaolin injection in the cisterna magna of rats produces an obstruction of CSF outflow and models one type of hydrocephalus. Previous research with this model shows that neonatal onset has mixed effects on Morris water maze (MWM) and motoric performance; we hypothesized that this might be because the severity of ventricular enlargement was not taken into consideration. In the present experiment, rats were injected with kaolin or saline on postnatal day (P)21 and analyzed in subgroups based on Evan's ratios (ERs) of the severity of ventricular enlargement at the end of testing to create 4 subgroups from least to most severe: ER0.4-0.5, ER0.51-0.6, ER0.61-0.7, and ER0.71-0.82, respectively. Locomotor activity (dry land and swimming), acoustic startle with prepulse inhibition (PPI), and MWM performance were tested starting on P28 (122cm maze) and again on P42 (244cm maze). Kaolin-treated animals weighed significantly less than controls at all times. Differences in locomotor activity were seen at P42 but not P28. On P28 there was an increase in PPI for all but the least severe kaolin-treated group, but no difference at P42 compared with controls. In the MWM at P28, all kaolin-treated groups had longer path lengths than controls, but comparable swim speeds. With the exception of the least severe group, probe trial performance was worse in the kaolin-treated animals. On P42, only the most severely affected kaolin-treated group showed deficits compared with control animals. This group showed no MWM learning and no memory for the platform position during probe trial testing. Swim speed was unaffected, indicating motor deficits were not responsible for impaired learning and memory. These findings indicate that kaolin-induced ventriculomegaly in rats interferes with cognition regardless of the final enlargement of the cerebral ventricles, but final size critically determines whether lasting locomotor, learning, and memory impairments occur.
Culture of Human Leukaemia Cells

THIS communication describes the culture of four additional cell lines derived from the buffy coats of patients with leukaemia. Iwakata and Grace1 provided key information for culturing leukaemia cells and reported the establishment of a cell line, R.P.M.I. No. 6410. Fifteen cell lines were subsequently derived from the buffy coats of four patients with acute and chronic myelocytic leukaemia and reported2.
Multimodal sensing strategies for detecting transparent barriers indoors from a mobile platform

There is currently an interest in developing mobile sensing platforms that fly indoors. The primary goal for these platforms is to be able to successfully navigate a building under various lighting and environmental conditions. There are numerous research challenges associated with this goal, one of which is the platform’s ability to detect and identify the presence of transparent barriers. Transparent barriers could include windows, glass partitions, or skylights. For example, in order to successfully navigate inside of a structure, these platforms will need to sense if a space contains a transparent barrier and whether or not this space can be traversed. This project’s focus has been developing a multimodal sensing system that can successfully identify such transparent barriers under various lighting conditions while aboard a mobile platform. Along with detecting transparent barriers, this sensing platform is capable of distinguishing between reflective, opaque, and transparent barriers. It will be critical for this system to be able to identify transparent barriers in real-time in order for the navigation system to maneuver accordingly. The properties associated with the interaction between various frequencies of light and transparent materials were one of the techniques leveraged to solve this problem.
Effects of reinforcement size and distribution on fracture toughness of composite nickel aluminide intermetallics

Abstract The effects of particulate size and distribution on the fracture toughness of nickel aluminide composites based on Ni 3 Al, Ni 3 Al + B and NiAl with additions of 10 vol.% TiB 2 reinforcement were determined. Composites were fabricated by conventional vacuum hot-pressing consolidation of blends of pre-alloyed matrix powder and TiB 2 platelet reinforcement. It is shown that reinforcement additions produced a decrease in the toughness of Ni 3 Al and Ni 3 Al + B and an increase in the toughness of NiAl while the range of reinforcement distributions and sizes tested at present did not produce a significant change in the measured composite toughness values. The mechanisms responsible for such behavior are discussed with the aid of in-situ fracture studies.
Effect of water density on methanol oxidation kinetics in supercritical water.

We oxidized methanol in supercritical water at 500 °C to explore the influence of the water concentration (or density) on the kinetics. The rate increased as the water concentration increased from 1.8 to 5.7 mol/L. This effect of water density on the kinetics observed experimentally was quantitatively reproduced by a previously validated mechanism-based, detailed chemical kinetics model. In this model, reactions of OH radicals with methanol were the fastest methanol removal steps. The rates of these removal steps increased with water density at 500 °C because the OH radical concentration increased. The OH radical concentration increased with density because the rates of the steps H + H2O = OH + H2 and CH3 + H2O = OH + CH4, which produce OH radicals, increased. Thus, the main role of water in accelerating methanol oxidation kinetics at 500 °C is as a hydrogen donor to a radical (R) in steps such as R + H2O = OH + RH. This system provides a striking example of SCW being involved on the molecular level in th...
Acute tissue-type plasminogen activator release in human microvascular endothelial cells: The roles of Gαq, PLC-β, IP3 and 5,6-epoxyeicosatrienoic acid

The acute physiologic release of tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA) from the endothelium is critical for vascular homeostasis. This process is prostacyclin- and nitric oxide (NO)-independent in humans. It has been suggested that calcium signaling and endothelial-derived hyperpolarizing factors (EDHF) may play a role in t-PA release. G-protein-coupled receptor-dependent calcium signaling is typically Gαq,-dependent. EDHFs have been functionally defined and in various tissues are believed to be various regioisomers of the epoxyeicosatrienoic acids (EETs). We tested the hypothesis in vitro that thrombin-stimulated t-PA release from human microvascular endothelial cells (HMECs) is both Gαq,- and EDHF-dependent. Conditioned media was harvested following thrombin stimulation, and t-PA antigen was measured by ELISA.Thrombin-induced t-PA release was limited by a membrane-permeable Gαq inhibitory peptide, the PLC-β antagonist U73122, and the IP3 receptor antagonist 2-aminoethoxyphenylborane, while the Gαq agonist Pasteurella toxin modestly induced t-PA release. The cytochrome P450 (CYP450) inhibitor, miconazole, and the arachidonic acid epoxygenase inhibitor MS-PPOH inhibited thrombin-stimulated t-PA release,while 5,6-EET-methyl ester stimulated t-PA release. The 5,6- and 14,15-EET antagonist, 14,15-epoxyeicosa-5(Z)- enoic acid, inhibited t-PA release at the 100 μM concentration. However, thrombin-stimulated t-PA release was unaffected by the prostacyclin and NO inhibitors ASA and L-NAME, as well as the potassium channel inhibitors TEA, apamin and charybdotoxin. These studies suggest that thrombin-stimulated t-PA release is Gαq,-, PLC-β-, IP3-, and 5,6-EET-dependent while being prostacyclin-, NO- and K+ channel-independent in HMECs.
Sequential estimation in distributed systems

A unified treatment of filtering in stochastic distributed systems is presented using a function space approach. An infinite-dimensional analogue of the well-known matrix inversion lemma is established and used in developing explicit and computationally efficient representations for the estimate and covariance equations. It also enables us to pursue the analogy to the finite-dimensional case and certain new results are obtained for the case of intermittent measurements. The equations for the case of continuous-time measurements follow easily from the above under passage to the limit. Measurements over the entire region as well as those at a finite number of locations are considered.
Fish on Prozac: a simple, noninvasive physiology laboratory investigating the mechanisms of aggressive behavior in Betta splendens.

The neuromodulator serotonin is an important regulator of aggressive behavior in vertebrates. Experimentally increasing synaptic levels of serotonin with fluoxetine, a selective serotonin reuptake ...
Trace metals in the North Sea

Abstract The distribution of zinc, manganese, nickel, copper and cadmium in water and biological material has been measured in the southern North Sea and Straits of Dover, and off the north-east coast of England. These investigations provide baseline values against which future pollution changes can be measured.