cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Mutation of a Highly Conserved Arginine in Motif IV ofEscherichia coli DNA Helicase II Results in an ATP-binding Defect

A site-directed mutation in motif IV of Escherichia coli DNA helicase II (UvrD) was generated to examine the functional significance of this region. The highly conserved arginine at position 284 was replaced with alanine to construct UvrD-R284A. The ability of the mutant allele to function in methyl-directed mismatch repair and UvrABC-mediated nucleotide excision repair was examined by genetic complementation assays. The R284A substitution abolished function in both DNA repair pathways. To identify the biochemical defects responsible for the loss of biological function, UvrD-R284A was purified to apparent homogeneity, and its biochemical properties were compared with wild-type UvrD. UvrD-R284A failed to unwind a 92-base pair duplex region and was severely compromised in unwinding a 20-base pair duplex region. The Km of UvrD-R284A for ATP was significantly greater than 3 mM compared with 80 microM for UvrD. A large decrease in ATP binding was confirmed using a nitrocellulose filter binding assay. These data suggested that the R284A mutation severely reduced the affinity of helicase II for ATP. The reduced unwinding activity and loss of biological function of UvrD-R284A was probably the result of decreased affinity for ATP. These results implicate motif IV of superfamily I helicases in nucleotide binding and represent the first characterization of a helicase mutation outside motifs I and II that severely impacted the Km for ATP.
Models of channel maintenance: What is the weaker party to do?

Abstract A new perspective of channel relationships is developed from existing paradigms to better understand impaired channel member perceptions and behavior. A framework is developed and used to empirically assess the combined impact of economic dependence and role performance on a weaker dyad member's behavior and attitude toward maintaining relationships with its preferred suppliers. This framework is presented as a two-group EQS model in order to examine and explain the differential effects between the weaker party's primary and secondary suppliers. The overall model is verified at the measurement level and hypothesized relationships are confirmed at the structural level. Suggestions for extending and validating the framework are provided.
Laser surface melting of W2 tool steel: effects of prior heat treatment

The feasibility of repair welding of W2 tool steel die material using a laser melting technique has been investigated. It is shown that aside from microstructural modifications, surface cracking occurs due to laser melting followed by rapid solidification. The nature and density of these cracks are found to be dependent on the initial microstructure and/or heat treatment before laser processing. The best result was obtained for a sample annealed at 790° C for 2 h.
CLIMATIC CHANGE SINCE 1950

ABSTRACT The mean temperature for the Northern Hemisphere had a warming trend from 1890 to 1950 and a cooling trend since 1950. The eastern and central United States had colder temperatures in 1961–1970 than in 1931–1960. The temperature changes were associated with an adjustment of hemispheric circulation from more frequent zonal flow between 1900 and 1950 to more frequent meridional flow since 1950. Regional variations in magnitude and direction of the change were largely related to position in relation to the upper air westerly wave pattern. Time series of individual circulation indices tend to resemble the step function model of climatic change.
Pap Smear Screening: Determinants of Patient Compliance

ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to test three hypotheses: Women will demonstrate greater compliance with returning for an annual Pap smear if (1) they receive educational instruction about the Pap smear, (2) they believe they are at serious risk to develop cervical cancer, (3) or they are classified as Internal Health Locus of Control. One half of women being cared for in a public postpartum clinic saw an educational videotape explaining the Pap smear and the benefits of periodic Pap smears. All received questionnaires to categorize them according to the Health Belief and Health Locus of Control Models. These women were tracked to determine their compliance with recommended yearly Pap smear testing, and the groups were compared. Only 18% of those with normal Pap smears and 41% with abnormal results returned for repeat Pap smear testing. Viewing the educational videotape did not influence compliance, nor were the Health Belief or Locus of Control Model questionnaires predictive of compliance. In t...
A world apart? Higher education transformation in the US and South Africa

Higher education transformation is context dependent. However, through a comparison of transformation in South Africa and the United States, this paper highlights challenges and issues confronting higher education leaders and policy makers. Contrasting the experiences and issues of transformation in a long-standing democracy and in a newly emerging one surface key elements such as the structures of national mandates, challenges of urgency and abundance, the importance of a language of “transformation”, and issues of legitimate and tested decision making processes. This paper raises some of the implications for effecting change based upon this trans-national comparison, and concludes with implications for leaders interested in affecting transformation.
Temperature-driven mass, charge and heat transfer in terms of physicochemical potential and Einstein's mobility

Unified description of mass, charge and heat transport in a solution in the presence of temperature gradient is suggested. The description is based on the idea that the rate of mass transport is proportional to the gradient of physicochemical potential, which is a more general function than electrochemical potential and includes the product of molar entropy and temperature. The proportionality coefficient is the product of Einstein's mobility and concentration. The approach explains the dependence of the Soret coefficient on concentration, molar entropy, and temperature. It also explains the reciprocal process (Dufour effect) and temperature-induced charge separation (Seebeck effect). In addition to usual reciprocal relation L21=L12 it gives the relation of different phenomenological coefficients of the Onsager description. In its turn, description of heat transport driven in opposite directions by concentration, pressure, and voltage gives classic equilibrium relations for mass transport.
Lecture on DEEPSEA CHALLENGE: New Science and Technology at Extreme Depths

James Cameron, National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence and a veteran of more than 80 manned submersible dives and 8 oceanographic expeditions, led a stimulating presentation (including first-time public video) of the innovation in engineering associated with the development of the DEEPSEA CHALLENGER submersible and the preliminary scientific findings from CHALLENGER's explorations at extreme depths. On 26 March 2012, Cameron successfully piloted the DEEPSEA CHALLENGER—a solo passenger submersible outfitted for scientific exploration—to the ocean's deepest point, where he collected samples and documented the experience in the high-resolution three-dimensional (3-D) imagery for which he's known globally.
An electron gas calculation of the nuclear magnetic shielding tensor of 3Σu + H2

We calculate the interaction nuclear magnetic shielding tensor for the 3Σu + state of H2, using the electron gas theory that we have presented previously. We confirm the finite direct contribution of the exchange energy, and our general results agree qualitatively with a simple Heitler-London calculation. Comparison with experimentally derived results for 129Xe suggest that an electron gas calculation on that system would be valuable.
Quantitative proteomic analysis of the brainstem following lethal sarin exposure.

The brainstem represents a major tissue area affected by sarin organophosphate poisoning due to its function in respiratory and cardiovascular control. While the acute toxic effects of sarin on brainstem-related responses are relatively unknown, other brain areas e.g., cortex or cerebellum, have been studied more extensively. The study objective was to analyze the guinea pig brainstem toxicology response following sarin (2 � LD50) exposure by proteome pathway analysis to gain insight into the complex regulatory mechanisms that lead to impairment of respiratory and cardiovascular control. Guinea pig exposure to sarin resulted in the typical acute behavior/physiology outcomes with death between 15 and 25 min. In addition, brain and blood acetylcholinesterase activity was significantly reduced in the presence of sarin to 95%, and 89%, respectively, of control values. Isobaric-tagged (iTRAQ) liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) identified 198 total proteins of which 23% were upregulated, and 18% were downregulated following sarin exposure. Direct gene ontology (GO) analysis revealed a sarin-specific broad-spectrum proteomic profile including glutamate-mediated excitotoxicity, calcium overload, energy depletion responses, and compensatory carbohydrate metabolism, increases in ROS defense, DNA damage and chromatin remodeling, HSP response, targeted protein degradation (ubiquitination) and cell death response. With regards to the sarindependent effect on respiration, our study supports the potential interference of sarin with CO2/H þ sensitive chemoreceptor neurons of the brainstem retrotrapezoid nucleus (RTN) that send excitatory glutamergic projections to the respiratory centers. In conclusion, this study gives insight into the brainstem broad-spectrum proteome following acute sarin exposure and the gained information will assist in the development of novel countermeasures. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
Particle dynamics calculations of wall stresses and slip velocities for couette flow of smooth inelastic spheres

The objective of this work is to characterize the effects of boundary geometry on the flow of dry granular materials composed of smooth, inelastic spheres between parallel, bumpy walls in the absence of gravity. Particle dynamic simulations are done in which wall stresses and slip velocities are computed over a wide range of parameters, including shear gap height, geometry of the wall particles, wall to free particle diameter ratio, and normal restitution coefficient. Calculated wall stresses and slip velocities are found to be highly sensitive to boundary roughness, which is characterized in terms of the mean spacing value for the wall particles. Most noticeable is a pronounced stress drop for dense flows with an associated large slip velocity in a system having a narrow shear gap height.
Ishihara color plates as a test for simultanagnosia

Abstract PURPOSE: To alert ophthalmologists to the use of Ishihara color plates in the detection of simultanagnosia. METHODS: We examined seven patients referred for impaired vision. Evaluation included color plate testing with Ishihara color plates. RESULTS: All seven patients had simultanagnosia, with marked difficulty in identifying the numbers in Ishihara color plates despite adequate visual acuity and the ability to name all of the colors in the plates correctly. One of these patients was referred with the diagnosis of a cone dystrophy because of her poor performance on the Ishihara test. All of the patients had bilateral occipitoparietal damage or atrophy on magnetic resonance imaging. CONCLUSIONS: Ophthalmologists must be aware that a poor performance with Ishihara plates may not be attributable to an impairment of color vision but rather to occipitoparietal brain damage associated with simultanagnosia.
Temperature selection by the red-backed salamander, Plethodon C. cinereus (Green) (Caudata: Plethodontidae)

Abstract o 1. We determined the temperatures selected in a complex thermal gradient by salamanders acclimated to 5, 15 and 25°C. 2. There was an inverse relationship between acclimation temperature and selected temperature. 3. The temperatures selected by salamanders acclimated to 15°C increased from June through August and fell slightly in October. 4. Acclimation of selected temperature was faster and of greater magnitude than acclimation of temperature resistance.
Effects of Subterranean Mammalian Herbivores on Vegetation

Fossorial herbivores are common in Eurasia, North and South America, and Africa, particularly in arid and semiarid regions. There is ample evidence, although often indirect and semiquantitative, that they have local and broad-scale effects on vegetation. These effects arise from feeding, harvesting, and caching, local soil disturbances, and longer-term changes in soil structure and topography, many aspects of which are similar among the diversity of fossorial herbivores. Often, the net effect of these animals' activities is alteration of composition of plant species and increased plant diversity. Standing crop of plants often is reduced, and long- and short-term changes in productivity can occur. Better understanding of the rules that govern diet selection and burrow size, dynamics, and geometry are needed to predict effects of these animals under specific environmental conditions.
Effect of Prenatal Drug Exposure on Cognitive Development in 5 to 7 Year Old Children 67

This study investigated effects of prenatal exposure to illicit drugs(i.e., cocaine and/or methamphetamine) on latent cognitive deficits as measured by overall and subtest scores on McCarthy Scale of Children's Abilities and Tower of Hanoi (an executive function task). Children identified at birth as having been exposed to cocaine and/or methamphetamine but withnormal APGAR scores and no other medical complications(EXP, n=5) were evaluated at ages 5 to 7 years as part of a longitudinal study at UCD Medical Center. Age-matched controls with no prenatal drug exposure were recruited at birth from UCDMC (CL, n=3), and additional controls were recruited later from surrounding communities (CC, n=33). At testing, mean ages were: EXP- 6 yrs. 9 mo.; CL - 6 yrs. 4 mo., CC (6 y.o.) - 6 yrs. 6 mo., and CC (7 y.o.) - 7 yrs. 3 mo. Mean age differences were not significant.
Changes in spinach phylloepiphytic bacteria communities following minimal processing and refrigerated storage described using pyrosequencing of 16S rRNA amplicons.

Aims: To investigate the changes in bacterial diversity on fresh spinach phyllosphere associated with storage at refrigeration temperatures. Methods and Results: Community structure and population dynamics of spinach phylloepiphytic bacteria associated with packaging and refrigeration of ready-to-eat fresh produce were evaluated using pyrosequencing of 16S rRNA gene amplicons. A diverse community responsive to storage at refrigerated temperatures was detected belonging to over 1000 operational taxonomic units, including many diverse members not previously described on the phyllosphere. Of the approx. 8800 unique sequences examined from fresh spinach leaves, 75% were from previously undescribed taxa. The classified sequences from the fresh spinach phyllosphere were assigned to 11 different phyla with the largest number of reads belonging to Proteobacteria and Firmicutes. Packaging and storage of spinach under refrigerated conditions decreased the richness, diversity and evenness of the bacterial community. Refrigeration at 4 and 10°C and storage resulted in a decrease in number of taxa represented from 11 phyla in fresh spinach to only 5 phyla after 1 day of storage. Sequences belonging to γ-Proteobacteria, particularly Pseudomonas spp. and members of the Enterobacteriaceae, were the most numerous after 15 days of storage at both temperatures. Growth inhibition of the genera Escherichia was achieved at 4°C but not at 10°C storage, thus highlighting the importance of temperature in fresh packaged spinach. Conclusions: The application of pyrosequencing to describe composition and diversity of the phyllosphere on spinach leaves provided a broader outlook of the bacterial composition of this community complementing other phyllosphere studies that have used culture- and nonculture-dependent approaches. Significance and Impact of the Study: Pyrosequencing allowed a broader description of the bacterial composition and diversity of the spinach leaf surface than previously obtained using culture-based detection and will be a powerful tool to help ensure the future safety and quality of packaged spinach.
Controlled and Conditioned Invariants for Linear Impulsive Systems

Linear impulsive systems are a class of hybrid systems in which the state propagates according to linear continuous-time dynamics except for a countable set of times at which the state can change instantaneously. Our aim is to extend the geometric control theory for linear time invariant systems to this system class. In this paper we define controlled invariant and conditioned invariant subspaces for linear impulsive systems with time-driven impulses and establish compensator synthesis results and accompanying connections with closed-loop invariant subspaces. We apply these results to the solution of an output regulation problem with disturbance decoupling for linear impulsive systems.
Issue Linkage and the Evolution of International Cooperation

This article extends Axelrod's results concerning the evolution of cooperation to situations in which a pair of individuals is simultaneously engaged in several continuing interactions, all of the Prisoners' Dilemma type. It is shown formally that in such a PD multisupergame, players may adopt strategies that create linkages across time and games, thus opening up new opportunities for cooperative outcomes in games for which cooperation would not be rational if considered in isolation. However, such linkage-based cooperation is often very brittle, in that attempts to include or delete issues may shatter the existing basis of cooperation. Numerical examples are given to demonstrate the wide variety of possible cooperative equilibria and the sensitivity of these equilibria to small changes in the payoffs of each game. Some implications for the evolution of arms control and other international regimes are discussed.
Chromosome interaction over a distance in meiosis

The challenge of cell division is to distribute partner chromosomes (pairs of homologues, pairs of sex chromosomes or pairs of sister chromatids) correctly, one into each daughter cell. In the ‘standard’ meiosis, this problem is solved by linking partners together via a chiasma and/or sister chromatid cohesion, and then separating the linked partners from one another in anaphase; thus, the partners are kept track of, and correctly distributed. Many organisms, however, properly separate chromosomes in the absence of any obvious physical connection, and movements of unconnected partner chromosomes are coordinated at a distance. Meiotic distance interactions happen in many different ways and in different types of organisms. In this review, we discuss several different known types of distance segregation and propose possible explanations for non-random segregation of distance-segregating chromosomes.
Hormones in the Lives of Crustaceans: An Overview1

SYNOPSIS. We present an overview of the isolation and characterization of three hormones (or hormone families) important for the growth and development of decapod crustaceans. These hormones include the ecdysteroids (steroid molting hormones), the hyperglycemic hormone neuropeptide family, and the terpenoid methyl farnesoate. Using examples primarily from our laboratory, we describe work on these hormones using various life stages of the lobster (Homarus americanus) as the principal model.
A stochastic approximation algorithm for large-dimensional systems in the Kiefer-Wolfowitz setting

The author considers the problem of finding a root of the multivariate gradient equation that arises in function maximization. When only noisy measurements of the function are available, a stochastic approximation (SA) algorithm of the general type due to Kiefer and Wolfowitz (1952) is appropriate for estimating the root. An SA algorithm is presented that is based on a simultaneous-perturbation gradient approximation instead of the standard finite-difference approximation of Kiefer-Wolfowitz type procedures. Theory and numerical experience indicate that the algorithm can be significantly more efficient than the standard finite-difference-based algorithms in large-dimensional problems. >
Analyzing the Semantics of patient data to rank records of literature retrieval

We describe the use of clinical data present in the medical record to determine the relevance of research evidence from literature databases. We studied the effect of using automated knowledge approaches as compared to physician's selection of articles, when using a traditional information retrieval system. Three methods were evaluated. The first method identified terms and their semantics and relationships in the patient's record to build a map of the record, which was represented in conceptual graph notation. This approach was applied to data in an individual's medical record and used to score citations retrieved using a graph matching algorithm. The second method identified associations between terms in the medical record, assigning them semantic types and weights based on the co-occurrence of these associations in citations of biomedical literature. The method was applied to data in an individual's medical record and used to score citations. The last method combined the first two. The results showed that physicians agreed better with each other than with the automated methods. However, we found a significant positive relation between physicians' selection of abstracts and two of the methods. We believe the results encourage the use of clinical data to determine the relevance of medical literature to the care of individual patients.
Key plasma parameters for resonant backward Raman amplification in plasma

Backward Raman amplification and compression in plasma enables pulse compression to intensities not available using material gratings. In order to achieve the highest intensities and efficiencies in the compression effect, in a manner robust both to noise and other competing plasma effects, both resonance effects and detuning effects are exploited. Here we offer a simplified guide to how some of the key plasma parameters and laser parameters should be picked in order to achieve robust and efficient amplification.
Reversible melting of polyethylene extended-chain crystals detected by temperature-modulated calorimetry

The melting and crystallization of extended-chain crystals of polyethylene are analyzed with standard differential scanning calorimetry and temperature-modulated differential scanning calorimetry. For short-chain, flexible paraffins and polyethylene fractions up to 10 nm length, fully reversible melting was possible for extended-chain crystals, as is expected for small molecules in the presence of crystal nuclei. Up to 100 nm length, full eutectic separation occurs with decreasingly reversible melting. The higher-molar-mass polymers form solid solution crystals and retain a rapidly decreasing reversible component during their melting that decreases to zero about 1.5 K before the end of melting. An attempt is made to link this reversible melting to the known, detailed morphology and phase diagram of the analyzed sample that was pressure-crystallized to reach chain extension and practically complete crystallization. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 40: 2219–2227, 2002
Shock-wave structure in binary mixtures of chemically inert perfect gases

Starting with expressions for viscous stress, heat flux and diffusion flux, we formulate a continuum theory for steady flow of a binary mixture of chemically inert perfect gases through a normal shock of arbitrary strength. For shocks of vanishing strength, a solution by series expansion in Grad's (1952) shcok-strength parameter gives a result essentially the same as found previously by Dyakov (1954). For stronger shocks a straightforward numerical integration, quite analogous to that useful in the simpler pure-gas problem, is laid out.The resulting problem has eight parameters: shock strength, ratio of specific heats, ration of bulk viscosity to shear viscosity, Prandtl number, Schmidt number, thermal diffusion factor, molecular mass ratio, and initial mixture concentration. A dozen examples were worked out on a simple desk calculator to exhibit the influence of some of these parameters. They involve the gas pairs argon40–argon36, argon–neon, argon–helium, and xenon–helium.In discussing the results, special attention is paid to the degree of success with which the weak-shock theory may be extrapolated to arbitrary shock strength, and to the question of the accuracy of the Navier-Stokes approximation for a mixture of gases of very different molecular weights.
Intersectoral point-to-point telecommunication flows: theoretical framework and empirical results

Abstract Based on a theoretical framework that derives information flows associated to economic and social transactions, intersectoral, point-to-point telecommunication flow functions are specified and estimated, using a very large data base on intra-LATA toll calls and a simultaneous equation estimation procedure that accounts for the endogeneity of reverse call flows. The effects of prices, distances, and market sizes vary significantly across intersectoral interactions, and so does the impact of reverse calls, pointing to different cases of information complementarity and substitutability. Flows always decrease with distance, pointing to complementarity between transportation and telecommunications. The demand for messages is always price-inelastic, while the demand for conversation minutes is always elastic. Overall, intra-residential calling appears to be most sensitive to telecommunication prices. Several areas for further research are outlined.
Adaptive Energy Management of Electric and Hybrid Electric Vehicles

An adaptive algorithm based on weighted recursive least squares is derived and implemented. The generality of the approach is underscored by the application of the algorithm to a 42 V lead acid and a high-voltage (375 V) nickel metal hydride battery system. The algorithm is fully recursive in that the only variables required for on-line regression are those of the previous time step and the current time step. A time-weighting technique often referred to as exponential forgetting is employed to damp exponentially the influence of older data on the regression analysis. The output from the adaptive algorithm is the battery state of charge (remaining energy), state of health (relative to the battery's nominal rating), and power capability. Such algorithms are likely to play a critical role in optimal operation of hybrid electric vehicles and on-board diagnostics. The behavior of the algorithm in terms of convergence, accuracy, and robustness is examined.
Electrophysiological and morphological characterization of cells in superficial layers of rat presubiculum.

The presubiculum (PrS) plays critical roles in spatial information processing and memory consolidation and has also been implicated in temporal lobe epileptogenesis. Despite its involvement in these processes, a basic structure–function analysis of PrS cells remains far from complete. To this end, we performed whole-cell recording and biocytin labeling of PrS neurons in layer (L)II and LIII to examine their electrophysiological and morphological properties. We characterized the cell types based on electrophysiological criteria, correlated their gross morphology, and classified them into distinct categories using unsupervised hierarchical cluster analysis. We identified seven distinct cell types: regular-spiking (RS), irregular-spiking (IR), initially bursting (IB), stuttering (Stu), single-spiking (SS), fast-adapting (FA), and late-spiking (LS) cells, of which RS and IB cells were common to LII and LIII, LS cells were specific to LIII, and the remaining types were identified exclusively in LII. Recorded neurons were either pyramidal or nonpyramidal and, except for Stu cells, displayed spine-rich dendrites. The RS, IB, and IR cells appeared to be projection neurons based on extension of their axons into LIII of the medial entorhinal area (MEA) and/or angular bundle. We conclude that LII and LIII of PrS are distinct in their neuronal populations and together constitute a more diverse population of neurons than previously suggested. PrS neurons serve as major drivers of circuits in superficial (LII–III) entorhinal cortex (ERC) and couple neighboring structures through robust afferentation, thereby substantiating the PrS's critical role in the parahippocampal region. J. Comp. Neurol. 521: 3116–3132, 2013. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
A design methodology for efficient application-specific on-chip interconnects

As the level of chip-integration continues to advance at a fast pace, the desire for efficient interconnects - whether on-chip or off-chip - is rapidly increasing. Traditional interconnects like buses, point-to-point wires, and regular topologies may suffer from poor resource sharing in the time and space domains, leading to high contention or low resource utilization. In this paper, we propose a design methodology for constructing networks for special-purpose computer systems with well-behaved (known) communication characteristics. A temporal and spatial model is proposed to define the sufficient condition for contention-free communication. Based upon this model, a design methodology using a recursive bisection technique is applied to systematically partition a parallel system such that the required number of links and switches is minimized while achieving low contention. Results show that the design methodology can generate more optimized on-chip networks with up to 60 percent fewer resources than meshes or tori while providing blocking performance closer to that of a fully connected crossbar.
The Dharma Paradigm and Ethos Some Insights from Jainism and Vedānta

What is “the Dharma Paradigm”? And how might this paradigm be cultivated in such a way as to transform not only academic discourse, but the broader discourse of our global society? Transforming a discourse at a paradigmatic level is clearly not a simple matter of substituting Sanskritic terminology for the Eurocentric terminology that has tended to dominate global discourse—of, for example, calling religions “Dharma Traditions,” but continuing to think of them, basically, as “religions,” of calling our words “shabdas” and our scholarly texts “bhashyas.” The Dharma Paradigm is a re-thinking of all our shared categories in light of the wisdom of the Dharma Traditions, seen not simply as a kind of “folk wisdom,” of merely local or historical interest, but as constitutive of a universal and transformative knowledge, capable of responding in kind to the dominant categories of global discourse and presenting itself as a viable alternative. This paper will be dedicated to outlining what the Dharma Paradigm might look like were it to be enacted, as well as to delineating some preliminary steps that we, as scholars and public intellectuals, might take toward manifesting this paradigm in the world.
Initial trial of a stereoscopic, insertable, remotely controlled camera for minimal access surgery

Background Although video-laparoscopy has enabled successful minimal access surgery, the nature of the technology causes many troublesome limitations: (1) the fulcrum effect of the insertion site through the abdominal wall limits the angle of view, (2) the camera operator must use counterintuitive movements, (3) the laparoscope occupies an incision which otherwise could be used for an instrument, and (4) the laparoscope provides a two-dimensional image. Methods A stereoscopic, insertable, remotely controlled camera was developed to overcome the limitations imposed by traditional video-laparoscopy. Additional functionality included digital zoom, picture-in-picture (PIP), and tracking capability for autonomous function of the camera. Four surgical tasks were performed twice in a porcine model, once using the insertable camera and once using a standard video-laparoscope setup for visualization. Running the bowel, simulated laparoscopic appendectomy, laparoscopic nephrectomy, and laparoscopic suturing and tying were measured for time, blood loss, and complications. Digital zoom, PIP, and the ability of the computer to move the camera to track a marked instrument were subjectively evaluated. Results The tasks were aborted in one animal because a new three-dimensional (3D) display could not be synchronized with the camera and in another animal because a motor in the camera failed. The tasks were all completed twice in two animals. The mean time was less for all procedures using the insertable camera. There was no significant blood loss and there were no complications. Digital zoom and PIP displaying both a close-up and a panoramic view were subjectively felt to improve visualization by all observers. The computer could reliably move the camera to track a marked instrument to keep it in the center of the field of view. Conclusions This preliminary proof-of-concept study suggests that a stereoscopic, insertable, remotely controlled camera may provide better visualization during minimal access surgery by overcoming many of the limitations of
A study of the relationships between cognitive appraisals and consumption emotions

While emotions have been shown to be significant determinants of various consumer behaviors, the antecedents of these emotions have not received much attention in the marketing literature. The current research examines a cognitive model of emotion and uses an experiment to show that the appraisals of goal relevance, goal congruence, and coping potential are determinants of consumption emotions such as anger, sadness, and joy/satisfaction. These emotions are also shown to be determinants of postconsumption behaviors such as word-of-mouth intentions.
Recommendation by Example in Social Annotation Systems

Recommendation by example is common in contemporary Internet applications providing resources similar to a user-selected example. In this paper this task is considered as a function available within a social annotation system offering new ways to model both users and resources. Using three real-world datasets we motivate several conclusions. First, a personalized approach outperforms non-personalized approaches suggesting that users perceive the similarity between resources differently. Second, the manner in which users interact with social annotation systems vary producing datasets with variable characteristics and requiring different recommendation strategies to best satisfy their needs. Third, a hybrid recommender constructed from several component recommenders can produce superior results by exploiting multiple dimensions of the data. The hybrid remains powerful, flexible and extensible despite the underlying characteristics of the data.
Policy search via the signed derivative.

We consider policy search for reinforcement learning: learning policy parameters, for some fixed policy class, that optimize performance of a system. In this paper, we propose a novel policy gradient method based on an approximation we call the Signed Derivative; the approximation is based on the intuition that it is often very easy to guess the direction in which control inputs affect future state variables, even if we do not have an accurate model of the system. The resulting algorithm is very simple, requires no model of the environment, and we show that it can outperform standard stochastic estimators of the gradient; indeed we show that Signed Derivative algorithm can in fact perform as well as the true (model-based) policy gradient, but without knowledge of the model. We evaluate the algorithm’s performance on both a simulated task and two realworld tasks — driving an RC car along a specified trajectory, and jumping onto obstacles with an quadruped robot — and in all cases achieve good performance after very little training.
Pediatric surgery – a changing field: national trends in pediatric surgical practice

Abstract Background Over the last decade, our institution has experienced a relative increase in the number of mundane cases, such as appendectomy and incision and drainage of abscess, versus index (complex) cases. We sought to determine if this trend is present at the national level. Methods A retrospective review of surgical case volume at 36 freestanding children's hospitals was performed between January 2004 and December 2013 using the Pediatric Health Information System (PHIS) database. Procedures were classified as "mundane" or "index", and 10 procedures of each type were selected for analysis. Results were reported as a percentage of total cases. Statistical analysis of linear trends was performed with the Mann-Kendall test. Results Overall, index procedures had a significant downward trend (p Conclusion The field of pediatric surgery is undergoing change with mundane procedures constituting an increasing proportion of the surgical caseload, while complex procedures are proportionately decreasing. These trends may be useful to inform decisions regarding future pediatric surgery workforce planning.
Exploring Heterogeneity within a Core for Improved Power Efficiency

Asymmetric multi-core processors (AMPs) comprise cores with different sizes of micro-architectural resources yielding very different performance and energy characteristics. Since the computational demands of workloads vary from one task to the other, AMPs can often provide a higher power efficiency than symmetric multi-cores. Furthermore, as the computational demands of a task change during its course of execution, reassigning the task from one core to another, where it can run more efficiently, can further improve the overall power efficiency. However, too frequent re-assignments of tasks to cores may result in high overhead. To greatly reduce this overhead, we propose a morphable core architecture that can dynamically adapt its resource sizes, operating frequency and voltage to assume one of four possible core configurations. Such a morphable architecture allows more frequent task to core configuration re-assignments for a better match between the current needs of the task and the available resources. To make the online morphing decisions we have developed a runtime analysis scheme that uses hardware performance counters. Our results indicate that the proposed morphable architecture controlled by the runtime management scheme, can improve the throughput/Watt of applications by 31 percent over executing on a static out-of-order core while the previously proposed big/little morphable architecture achieves only a 17 percent improvement.
Encount'r: Exploring Passive Context-Awareness for Opportunistic Social Matching

Mobile social matching applications are changing the way we meet new people. However, there are many open challenges associated with the design of systems that introduces people proactively without a specific user query, but instead when the opportunity arises. We present Encount'r, an opportunistic social matching system that implements passive context-awareness to unobtrusively inform people about relevant opportunities. Preliminary findings from a think aloud evaluation of both the concept and the designs are discussed and ongoing research efforts are presented.
Mechanism of the Cardiovascular Actions of Cyclocytidine

SummaryThe clinical usefulness of cyclocytidine, an otherwise potentially valuable antineoplastic agent, is limited because it may cause acute postural hypotension in man. In the laboratory, cyclocytidine (5-100 mg/kg) transiently increased blood pressure in anesthetized dogs, cats and rats. As the pressor responses to cyclocytidine were prevented by previous treatment with 6-hydroxydopamine or acutely by phentolamine, guanethidine and desmethylimipramine, but not by hexa-methonium, adrenergic nerve terminals appear to be involved in its pressor actions. Cyclocytidine also blocked pressor responses to tyramine and caused intolerance to tilt stress in anesthetized dogs. Cyclocytidine thus appears to promote, then prevent, release of norepinephrine from adrenergic vasoconstrictor neurons.
Vector Domain P and S decomposition in viscoelastic media

P and S decomposition is an essential step in isotropic viscoelastic reverse time migration (VRTM). Separation using divergence and curl operators doesn’t preserve the phase or amplitude of the input viscoelastic wavefield, so an alternative decomposition that preserves the vector components of the Pand S-waves in the input wavefield is desired. With a decoupled assumption, we rearrange the memory variables in the elastodynamic equations based on the standard linear solid. The vector components of the propagating Pand S-wave can be can be decomposed in isotropic viscoelastic media without losing accuracy. Synthetic tests show that the Pand S-waves can be decomposed with no distortion of the amplitude or phase, and have the same vector components of particle velocity that exist in the viscoelastic wavefield before decomposition.
Sustainable thermoplastic elastomers from terpene-derived monomers

ABA triblock polymers were prepared by living anionic polymerization of the pinene-derivable monomers α-methyl-p-methylstyrene and myrcene. The resulting thermoplastic elastomers displayed microphase separation at moderate molar mass, an upper service temperature about 70 °C higher than traditional petroleum-derived styrenic thermoplastic elastomers, competitive tensile strengths of up to 10 MPa, impressive ultimate elongations of up to 1300%, and remarkably low energy loss recovery attributes.
The Ethics of Space-Based Ballistic Missile Defense

In 1967 the United States and the Soviet Union signed the "Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, Including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies," commonly known as the Outer Space Treaty. The treaty went into effect on October 10, 1967 and prohibits the stationing of weapons of mass destruction in space or on celestial bodies. Both nations apparently perceived benefits in preventing escalation of the arms race into space. Space exploration could concentrate upon nonmilitary missions such as medical research, or military missions designed to guarantee peace, such as orbiting spy satellites. The weapons-of-mass-destruction clause in the treaty is officially inter preted as including only nuclear weapons. In 1981, the Soviets proposed a treaty at the United Nations calling for a ban on the stationing of weapons of any kind in space and, in 1983, they presented a resolution seeking the prohibition of space based antisatellite weapons (ASATs).1 Of course, Soviet proposals are always met with a great deal of skepticism. Colin Gray, for instance, warns us that Soviet calls for negotiations to prevent the militarization of space are part of a Soviet plan to untrack the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI). Gray remarks that SDI will need ASATs to defend against Soviet satellites whose mission will be to destroy SDI tracking in stallations on space-based platforms.2 Regardless of what the real intentions of the Soviets are, it is fair to say that the U.S. has undertaken a new orientation toward space-based weapons under President Reagan. In his now famous speech, "Peace and National Security," delivered on March 23, 1983, Reagan urged the development of a defensive system which would make nuclear weapons ob solete. The speech presented a vision of a population defense which would free citizens from the threat of nuclear destruction and allow the United States to abandon reliance upon the "immoral" policy of mutual assured destruction (MAD) for deterrence.3 SDI will be a layered system with many space-based components. The version envisaged by James C. Fletcher, head of the Reagan-commissioned Defense Technologies Study and current director of NASA, involves four defensive layers correlated to the phases of a ballistic missile's flight: boost, post-boost, midcourse, and terminal.4 Three of these layers rely upon space-based weapons. It is doubtful that any of the layers would involve
Comparison of methods to determine load sharing of insulating glass units for environmental loads

In the past few decades, designers increasingly work on glazing projects across the world requiring the use of international glazing standards that often differ from the designer’s national code. Commonly specified international glazing standards include prEN16612, AS1288, and ASTM E1300. Each of these standards has a different approach to determine window glass strength. This paper explores one aspect of glazing design for insulating glass units, the method for estimating the load sharing between the lites comprising insulating glass units. Each glazing standard uses a different method for estimating load sharing and how the effects of environmental loads are incorporated into the estimation. Environmental loads include but are not limited to changes in atmospheric pressure, resulting from elevation, climatic, and temperature variations. Additionally, several iterative methods appear in technical literature that attempt to account for most known factors affecting insulating glass load sharing. Each of these methods addresses environmental loads differently with differing degrees of accuracy. This paper presents comparisons between the three glazing standards above and an iterative method for load sharing with environmental loads in double and triple glazed insulating glass units. The major factors varied in the investigation are insulating glass unit constructions, dimensions, glass lite thicknesses, air space thickness, temperature and pressure and atmospheric pressure changes due to elevation change. Pressure versus load sharing percentage curves are presented for select double and triple insulating glass unit constructions. Figures in this paper will show the load sharing trends of different similarly loaded insulating glass units due to varying the pressure differential between the air space(s) and atmospheric pressures. The results of this study will indicate differences between the load sharing methods and provide example scenarios where the methods produce similar and different estimates of insulating glass load sharing.
Reimplantation of the Dilated Ectopic Ureter of the duplex System as a Separate Unit

Separate reimplantation of the dilated ureter provided a surgical alternative in 2 patients with duplex ureters, in whom ureteroureterostomy or double reimplantation might have compromised the smaller caliber normal ureter.
EMBERS AutoGSR: Automated Coding of Civil Unrest Events

We describe the EMBERS AutoGSR system that conducts automated coding of civil unrest events from news articles published in multiple languages. The nuts and bolts of the AutoGSR system constitute an ecosystem of filtering, ranking, and recommendation models to determine if an article reports a civil unrest event and, if so, proceed to identify and encode specific characteristics of the civil unrest event such as the when, where, who, and why of the protest. AutoGSR is a deployed system for the past 6 months continually processing data 24x7 in languages such as Spanish, Portuguese, English and encoding civil unrest events in 10 countries of Latin America: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Mexico, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Venezuela. We demonstrate the superiority of AutoGSR over both manual approaches and other state-of-the-art encoding systems for civil unrest.
The Activists Throw the Gauntlet

The date was May 23, 1978. The time, 9:30 A.M. The location was the U.S. Senate. Senator Edward Kennedy was presiding over the Hearing of the Subcommittee on Health and Scientific Research of the Senate Committee on Human Resources The first witness was Dr. Oswald Ballarin, Ph.D., chairman and president of Nestle — Brazil, representing the Nestle Company.